Anyone with a really skinny teen decide to be vegetarian?

[Catherine]

My almost 16 yo is about 6' 1" and weighs about 135 pounds. He announced 2 weeks ago he is vegetarian. He's doing this in part, he says, to make himself eat more veggies, which IMO is really admirable. He has always been extremely picky and truly has barely eaten a veggie in his life. He just has a lot of trouble with some flavors and textures. Lest you assume I am a pathetically wishy-washy parent, my other two eat pretty much everything that's not nailed down. That's one reason I believe this ds when he says he "just can't" try something.

 

So.

 

Do I just go on as usual and let him figure this out for himself? Last night I made a dish I know he loves, tuna pasta, and a salad and he refused the pasta (he apparently told me he isn't eating fish but I got it wrong) and just ate a green salad for dinner! I'm really worried he will get much thinner on this regimen. Then again, that is, no kidding, the first time in his entire life he's eaten green salad. He did have some ice cream. Do I just serve extra dessert and let it go?

 

Sign me-way too worried.

[jenangelcat]

Give him a good book on nutrition. I think a lot of the teenagers that go through a vegetarian phase end up dropping it because of poor health. It takes a bit more work to stay healthy as a vegetarian than just eating a salad for dinner.

[SJ.]

Eating only a salad and ice cream for meals on a regular basis is not healthy. I would highly encourage your ds to research proper nutrition on a vegetarian diet. Perhaps to support him you can begin incorporating one dish vegetarian meals into your meals at home, something the rest of the family can use as a side dish.

[Dynamite5]

My almost 16 yo is about 6' 1" and weighs about 135 pounds. He announced 2 weeks ago he is vegetarian. He's doing this in part, he says, to make himself eat more veggies, which IMO is really admirable. He has always been extremely picky and truly has barely eaten a veggie in his life. He just has a lot of trouble with some flavors and textures. Lest you assume I am a pathetically wishy-washy parent, my other two eat pretty much everything that's not nailed down. That's one reason I believe this ds when he says he "just can't" try something.

 

So.

 

Do I just go on as usual and let him figure this out for himself? Last night I made a dish I know he loves, tuna pasta, and a salad and he refused the pasta (he apparently told me he isn't eating fish but I got it wrong) and just ate a green salad for dinner! I'm really worried he will get much thinner on this regimen. Then again, that is, no kidding, the first time in his entire life he's eaten green salad. He did have some ice cream. Do I just serve extra dessert and let it go?

 

Sign me-way too worried.

 

What a mature decision for your ds to make! Deciding one needs more vegetables is very admirable.

 

One way to handle it would be to let him figure it out for himself and eat more dessert, but that wouldn't really help him meet his goal, would it?

 

You might want to consider embracing his new adventure as one the entire family can be a part of, and plan your meals accordingly. You can make easy concessions for him, such as black bean burger if your family would like to have hamburgers, but honestly, you'll save money if you all begin to eat less meat. Trying new veggies can be a great thing for every member of your family.

 

As a vegetarian, I would be thrilled if one of my dc decided to join the ranks (although they eat tons of beans, veggies, rice, quinoa, oats, etc). It would just be nice to never buy bacon again! :D

 

The hardest part of the transition to being vegetarian for me was not planning around a meat. Now I start with salad, have a starchy vegetable (we do lots of potatoes--although we don't eat tons of breads or pastas, I'm not afraid at all to serve my growing children whole food starches. They do not react in the body like processed carbs.) Then I have one or two other veggies to go along with the meal. A sample summer meal: spinach salad, grilled corn on the cob, onions and cukes in vinegar, fresh tomato slices and blueberries. A sample winter meal: Ceasar salad (no cheese for us), baked sweet potatoes, peas, roasted acorn squash and granny smith apple slices. (Fruit is our dessert.)

 

One last thing, you might want to consider making a pot of soup each week for him to eat whenever he's hungry--minestrone, squash bisque, tomato and rice, veggie, baked potato, black bean, vegetarian chili--the possibilities are endless. Then, if need be, he can eat soup in between meals or as a meal if your food is not compatible with his choices. One thing to remember is that we don't need as much variety as we've come to expect.

 

As his taste buds begin to change, he will begin to appreciate so many new things--especially if you embrace his quest and provide him with lots of exposure. Best to all of you!

Edited November 8, 2012 by Dynamite5
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[Mommee & Baba]

I would let him lead. Make sure he's getting his multivitamins. If he's not eating fish then be sure he's getting a B12 supplement and the proper amounts of all the other vitamins and protein too. I take a vegan multivitamin, B12, and Vitamin D2 daily. My kids aren't vegan and they take a vegan Multivitamin daily. I think kids of any food preference should take a multivitamin, so if this isn't something we share disregard it. I hope I didn't offend anyone.

 

I'm a gluten free vegan. My kids and hubby are gluten free vegetarians who consume eggs, honey, and fish. My husband and oldest daughter are just now requesting hen for Thanksgiving.

 

Check out recipes to help introduce vegetables to him with different textures in an easier way. Have him help with the cooking if he wants so he can be the taste tester! :) Make some kale chips! Eat some hummus with freshly chopped vegetables! Have him use spaghetti squash/winter squash as his pasta replacement! Tons of ideas out there.

 

I think it's wonderful that you're supporting this decision of your ds! My dd9 begged me to let her stop eating meat and have just vegetables since they weren't being taken away from their family 5 years ago and I ignored her request repeatedly! At that time I was so insensitive and was rather ugly about the whole situation. Now as a vegan myself I respect anyone that wants to have the RIGHT to make their OWN decision about what they will eat! Just recently my dh has been asking for chicken after being a vegetarian for a few months and if he would've asked me at the beginning of the journey I would've flipped out. Now I'm trying to work chicken into our menu JUST for him! I know my girls will happily try some with daddy while I continue to eat vegan. I've been vegan for only 4 months and it's taught me ALOT!

[Parrothead]

If you are doing the majority of his cooking you'll want to learn about vegetarian nutrition. He will also want to learn about healthy veggie meals so that at the times the rest of the family is eating tuna pasta he will know what to make for himself.

 

I would suggest that you not try to sabotage his efforts by tempting him to eat meat.

 

If he is not vegan offer things like cheese and eggs to fill out his veggies. Nuts are healthy and will help keep his calorie intake at a good level. If he is vegan (no animal products) make sure he takes a B12 supplement. We only get B12 from animal products.

 

Healthy carbs, along with things like bananas, avacados and beans will help fill him up.

 

Around here our plates are 1/4 carb or legumes, 1/2 veggies, the rest in fruit (or more veggies depending on taste) and fats. For your still growing young man perhaps he needs to raise the grains and continue eating fruits and veggies. Make sure he gets healthy fats to help his body process fat soluble vitamins.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Parrothead

[HappyLady]

I don't know of too many teenagers that eat healthy so I commend him for his reason for wanting to be vegetarian! If he's going to continue to eat dairy and eggs it will be easy to make meals for him. If he's going to eat a lot of salads, add beans, seeds, nuts, and a good quality dressing.

 

He's going to be fine. Trust me. :) If he's serious about his health, then have him do some research. There's nothing you can't get on a vegetarian diet that you can get on an omnivore's diet. As long as he's eating a variety of foods, he'll be fine.

 

Supplements are never a bad idea, no matter how you eat. The only thing I'd probably consider making sure he supplements with is B12 and only if he's not eating foods that are fortified with it. I still wouldn't worry about that one yet though, because your body stores B12 for a very long time and unless there are health reasons why he wouldn't, he'll have plenty in his system to live on for quite awhile.

 

Feel free to PM me if you ever have any questions. :)

[Kathryn]

If he wants this to work, he and whoever is responsible for his meals need to learn about vegetarian nutrition. As a pp noted, it often doesn't work out for teens because of the lack of nutrition. They (myself included) decide to stop eating meat, but nothing else changes and so there's a nutritional hole. I ended up severely anemic.

[Crimson Wife]

We're "flexitarian" (mostly plant-based meals with some poultry & fish) and when my skinny oldest DD decided she wanted to be full-fledged vegetarian, I made her meet with our pediatrician (whose own daughter is a vegan) about nutritional needs. After about a week, DD got sick of legumes & eggs and decided she wanted to start eating meat again.

[CatholicMom]

hmmm. That's great that he's taking initiative to eat healthier, but I would tell him that you think eating more veggies is a great idea but that cutting out meat is a not-so-great idea. A 16 yr old young guy really needs the calories, protein, and fat from meat... especially one who is already on the verge of being considered underweight if he's not already. He's still growing bone & muscle mass even if he is at his full-height. If he is really resistant to not going vegetarian I would have him talk to his doctor and see what he thinks because I bet chances are good that the doc will say 1) this is a bad idea, or 2) you need to be really careful and eat lots of nuts, you can't exclude fish, etc, etc, and put so many stipulations on it that your son will either be careful enough that he will still get enough calories and nutrients or he will decide to heck with this vegetarian crap. :lol:

 

I think it would be really hard for a young guy to get the calories he needs while being vegetarian, and though I LOVE sweets, I think making up for lost calories with sugar is a really bad idea because 1) sugar lowers the immune system, 2) sugary foods are almost always completely void of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. So filling up on empty calories is not a good idea.

 

I would try to convince him to come up with a solid happy-medium idea that includes meat AND veggies. What about a low-carb diet? I'm not talking NO carbs like a fad diet, but consciously cutting out a lot of pasta, bread and the like which forces you to eat more meat & veggies. I had to go on a low-carb diet to try to control gestational diabetes when I was pregnant and I found I HAD to eat a lot of meat and veggies or else I was hungry! Because I couldn't eat sugary junk and I couldn't fill up on pasta and bread.

[StephanieZ]

Don't worry . . . There are lots of fat vegetarians, lol. ;)

 

Pasta, grains in general, healthy fats, and nutrient dense foods will give him plenty of calories.

 

I'd personally take a stand that he must eat a balanced diet. Including adequate protein and fats. And not relying on processed grains (white pasta, white breads, etc) for most of his calories!!

 

Look at Barilla Plus pasta. It is tasty, tastes "normal", but is enriched with various vegetarian protein sources (higher in fiber, too!)

 

And, NO, I wouldn't just let him pig out on junk calories. Being skinny isn't dangerous; being nutrient-starved via eating only junk IS dangerous, even if you are skinny.

 

I'd make it a project with him to choose a couple books on balanced vegetarian diets, including at least one cook book. Get them from the libarary or buy them, and read them with him (or at least skim them) and discuss the various chapters over the coming weeks. Let him pick out nutritious meals to cook, let him shop for the ingredients while you are at the store, and cook with him once a week. It'll be fun and you'll probably BOTH learn a lot, and find some new nutritious recipes.

 

I'd aim for finding legume/bean/egg based recipes for protein sources. And, I'd aim for at least one healthy fat source at main meals (avocados, flax/olive/etc oils . . .)

 

Chili, lentil soup, hummus, etc are all good, easy to like protein rich vegetarian foods. (Also calorie rich).

 

If he likes eggs, help him learn to make a killer omelette. Perfect man-food, lol. Most men I knew in college days could cook an omelette, and that's it. My dad cooked eggs, steak, bacon, and that's about it, lol.

[Crimson Wife]

If pro athletes like Joe Namath and Hank Aaron can get adequate nutrition as vegetarians, then regular teens can absolutely get it as well.

[redsquirrel]

My son is a super healthy vegetarian from birth. he gets plenty of calories and protein. He is a dancer so he needs LOTS of energy and takes his nutrition very seriously.

 

Lots of very healthy male athletes are vegetarian. Edwin Moses, Bode Miller, Carl Lewis, Christopher Campbell, Brenden Brazier (professional Iron man athlete), Desmond Howard, Art Still...the list goes on an on.

 

As someone who has been a vegetarian for most of her life and raises her kids that way, I don't believe it is the only healthy diet. Just as I don't believe homeschooling is the right educational choice for every family. But, for those who want to go meat free (or public school free) it is a viable choice. Kids can grow up health and strong choosing to be vegetarian or vegan, just as they can be well educated at home.