Posted Nov 30, 2010
Cologne (dpa) – Teenagers who opt for a vegetarian diet should not subsist on meatless burgers and cheese pizza, warned the Cologne-based Professional Association of Children’s and Young People’s Physicians (BVKJ).
“Adolescents on a full vegetarian diet should select their food carefully,” said BVKJ spokesman Ulrich Fegeler, who noted that the iron intake requirement for this age group was especially high.
Teens should also make sure their diet contains sufficient protein, zinc, iodine and calcium as well as the vitamins D, B2 and B12, he added.
Iron is provided by foods such as leafy green vegetables, red beets, cress, fish, eggs, whole grain, legumes and nuts. The body absorbs this iron more efficiently in meals that also contain vitamin C, for example from peppers, cauliflower, broccoli or orange juice.
Vegetarians who consume dairy products have no trouble getting plenty of vitamin B12 and calcium.
To meet their vitamin B2 needs, adolescents should eat milk products, cheese, whole grains, mushrooms, legumes, broccoli and spinach. Fish and cheese are good sources of zinc, and iodine is found in saltwater fish and iodized salt.
The body synthesizes vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet light during regular summertime walks outdoors. Foods rich in vitamin D include fish and milk.
“With a vegan diet, however, it’s difficult to get all the important nutrients solely via foods and without food supplements,” Fegeler noted. Practitioners of this strict form of vegetarianism avoid all products derived from animals, which means not only meat but also fish, milk, eggs and honey.
A blood test by a physician can detect a vitamin D or iron deficiency. “Regular health checkups are especially advisable for young vegetarians,” Fegeler said.
Symptoms of a possible iron deficiency are paleness, fatigue, lack of appetite, brittle fingernails and hair, cracks at the corners of the mouth, chapped lips and frequent infections.