Actually, kids are almost natural vegetarians. First of all, many have a hard time chewing through things, so that often eliminates meat, and second of all, they love animals. Once they make the connection between the hamburger and the cow, many pass on the meat. In recent years, the plethora of nutritional studies linking the intake of large amount of meat with certain chronic diseases has caused an increase in the number of proclaimed vegetarians, and semi-vegetarians. Because many of these people are just like us, parents wanting to optimize our health and hoping to extend our years, we end up changing the nature of the diet for the entire household, kids included.
Meat contains lots of important nutrients that are harder to come by from other sources.
Nutrients like protein, iron, zinc, folate, vitamin B12, thiamin and essential fatty acids. On the other hand, meat also supplies lots of saturated fats and cholesterol that can lead to clogged arteries and heart disease. Meat provides a concentrated source of complete, high quality protein. On the other hand, the proper combination of vegetable proteins can provide us with the same quality. The decision to exclude meat from your diet has neither a positive or negative health impact.