Children who consumed a vegetarian diet showed similar growth and nutritional measures compared with their meat-eating peers but were more likely to be underweight, according to a study.
The cohort study, published in Pediatrics, was conducted by researchers in Canada as part of the TARGet Kids! research network, meant to examine eating habits and nutrition in children.
“We hypothesized that vegetarian diet in childhood would be associated with lower growth, iron and vitamin D stores because of lower total caloric intake, lower heme-iron intake from animal-based foods, and reduced vitamin