According to a new study, vegan kids are on average 1.24 inches (3.15 cm) shorter than their omnivorous peers, and have a lower bone density.  Additionally, the vegan kids that participated in the study had lower HDL, higher triglycerides, vitamin B-12 deficiencies, low ferritin (iron) and iron-deficiency anemia.  So vegan kids are clearly less healthy, even when compared to kids who follow a traditional Western diet. Despite these findings, the study concluded that vegan diets were associated with a healthier cardiovascular risk profile because of lower LDL and total cholesterol markers, neither of which says anything about cardiovascular health (as I explained in this article).