It makes good nutrition sense to balance what we eat from all five food groups, choose a variety of foods from each group, and to eat moderately. Yet eating disorder specialists and pediatricians are seeing alarming numbers of young children today with stunted growth, fragile bones and stress fractures who have stopped eating meat and other animal-source foods. The long-term Bogalusa Heart Study finds that children who eat more meat are less likely to have deficiencies than those who eat little or no meat. Kids who don t eat meat and especially if they restrict other foods, as many girls are doing are more likely to feel tired, apathetic, unable to concentrate, are sick more often, more frequently depressed, and are the most likely to be malnourished and have stunted growth. Meat and other animal-source foods are the building blocks of healthy growth that have made America s youngsters among the tallest, strongest and healthiest in the world.
Meat is an important source of quality nutrients, heme iron, protein, zinc and B-complex vitamins.
It provides high-quality protein important for kids healthy growth and development. More than 90 percent of iron consumed may be wasted when taken without some heme iron from animal sources. Substances found to inhibit nonheme iron absorption include phytates in cereals, nuts and legumes, and polyphenolics in vegetables. Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue, headache, irritability and decreased work performance. For young children, it can lead to impairment in general intelligence, language, motor performance and school readiness.