Vegetarian, Vegan Diets Bad for Baby

Vegetarian, Vegan Diets Bad for Baby

ATLANTA--Vegetarian/vegan mothers should ensure adequatevitamin B12 (cobalamin) intake via dietary supplements to protect thedevelopmental health of their infants, according to researchers from EmoryUniversity, Atlanta. Their analysis of two case reports--which was printed inthe Jan. 31 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidityand Mortality Weekly Report (52, 4:61-4, 2003) (www.cdc.gov/mmwr)--indicatedinfants born to vegetarian/vegan mothers suffered developmental delays due tocobalamin deficiency.

The first case report was of a female infant born to a vegan mother. The babysuffered a poor appetite, vomited regularly and was diagnosed with failure tothrive, developmental delay and severe macrocytic anemia. The child washospitalized at 15 months and diagnosed with cobalamin deficiency, for which shewas given injections of 2 mg/d of cyanocobalamin and 3 mg/d of hydroxycobalamin.At 28 months, the infant was still lagging in development--she had the finemotor skills of a nine-month-old and the gross motor skills of an 18-month-old.Her physicians prescribed a daily sublingual cobalamin supplement. At age 32months, the infant had made developmental progress, but continued to havedifficulty with speech and language.

The second case involved a male infant with mild global developmental delayswho was born to a vegetarian mother. The child was given fruit and dry cereal toimprove his growth, as well as soy- and milk-based formulas. However, hispediatrician noted a failure to thrive, and sent the child to a genetics lab,where at 11 months, he was diagnosed with cobalamin deficiency. He was given aninjection of 1 mg/d of hydroxycobalamin, as well as a sublingual cobalaminsupplement (1 mg/d). The mother was also treated with cobalamin supplements.According to the researchers, after six months of oral cobalamin treatment, thechild still exhibited speech and fine motor skills delays, but hadage-appropriate gross motor skills.

In their discussion, researchers noted the most common cause of infantcobalamin deficiency is maternal dietary deficiency, which can manifest itselfin the infant as undernutrition, particularly growth failure. The researchersrecommended women following vegetarian or vegan diets ensure adequate cobalaminintake, primarily through fortified foods and supplements, as plant forms ofcobalamin are not highly bioavailable. "Vegetarians, particularly womenduring pregnancy and lactation, should be knowledgeable about the cobalamincontent of their food or seek nutritional advice," the authors wrote."If it is not possible to acquire the recommended dietary intake ofcobalamin through food, a daily supplement should be taken that contains atleast the recommended dietary intake of cobalamin from a reliable source."