Scientist: Meat Is Important For Children's Development
By Marietta Gross - Scoop Media Auckland
Meat and animal protein is important for the development of children. Without meat in the grocery bag children would
stay smaller, weaker and less intelligent. The results of the alimentation study in which 544 Kenyan primary school
children took part are so clear without ambiguity that study author Lindsay Allen from the Californian Davis University
calls it irresponsible to nourish children on a vegan diet – exclusively herbal.
During the biennial study the boys and girls (aged on average seven years of age) were divided into four groups. The
children of each group received (on top of their normal daily intake of food) either 60 grams meat, a cup of milk,
vegetable oil or no complement.
After the two years, those children, who received extra food, gained 400 grams more than the children without
supplement. Boys and girls who got extra milk had upper arm muscles that were enlarged by 40 per cent, those who got
extra meat had an enlargement of even 80 per cent.
Those children who had been supplied with meat showed a better performance in intelligence and mathematics tests. “The
meat group was on the playground more active, more eloquent and friskier and showed more qualities” reports Allen.
Meat and animal products such as milk contain nutrients, which cannot be supplied via vegan food. The nutrition of
Kenyan children consists mainly of corn and beans, which leads to a lack of iron, zinc, calcium and the vitamins A, E,
B12.
The result of the study might not please parents who refuse to feed their children meat or animal products, says Allen.
“It’s quite evident, that it is not arguable to raise children strictly vegan."