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Vegan girl, 12, 'has spine of 80-year-old'
Times Online ^ | 6/8/08 | Mark Macaskill

Posted on 06/11/2008 10:38:39 AM PDT by Dawnsblood

A girl of 12 brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old.

Doctors are under pressure to report the couple, from Glasgow, to police and social workers amid concerns her health and welfare may have been neglected in pursuit of their beliefs.

The youngster, fed on a strict meat- and dairy-free diet from birth, is being treated at the city’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones. The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce.

Dr Faisal Ahmed, the consultant treating the child, said he believed the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet needed to be highlighted. “Something like this needs publicity,” he said. However, he refused to blame the parents, who are understood to be well-known figures in Glasgow’s vegan community: “We shouldn’t name and shame . Mum feels guilty about the whole thing and feels bad about it.”

Jonathan Sher, head of policy at Children in Scotland, said: “If the consequence of parental behaviour is physical, mental or emotional harm to a child, then the child protection system should become involved.” Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, added: “If the youngster is coming to clinical harm, something must be done.”

In 2001, British vegans Hazmik and Garabet Manuelyan, from Staines, were sentenced to three years’ community rehabilitation after they admitted starving daughter Arenai, 10 months, to death. She had been fed nothing but breast milk, raw fruit, vegetables and nuts.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: animalrights; childabuse; cpswatch; diet; dontexcerpt; dontsnip; health; needlesslyedited; needlesslyexcerpted; nutrition; postitall; rickets; uk; vegan; veganism; vitamind
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To: Dawnsblood

I don’t think it has much to do with being a vegan. It is plain child abuse and neglect. This isn’t even a real vegan diet. Just like the kids who are extremely overweight, it is abuse.


61 posted on 06/11/2008 11:42:38 AM PDT by TriGirl (Lurking for 7 years!!!!!)
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To: Dawnsblood
“We shouldn’t name and shame . Mum feels guilty about the whole thing and feels bad about it.”

Oh good Lord. What complete lunatics. Poor kid.
62 posted on 06/11/2008 11:42:51 AM PDT by khnyny (Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy)
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To: JamesP81
If you adhere to a diet that needs to be supplemented by taking more vitamins, perhaps it's not such a healthy diet. At least for humans.
63 posted on 06/11/2008 11:44:50 AM PDT by isrul (Help make every day, "Disrespect a muzzie day.")
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To: Liberty 275
“She had been fed nothing but breast milk”

isnt that an animal product?

In this case it certainly is.

64 posted on 06/11/2008 11:45:04 AM PDT by BlazingArizona
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To: Dawnsblood

“The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce.”

And is also produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight. They missed that part.


65 posted on 06/11/2008 11:46:23 AM PDT by Ellendra (If you do not like the values of the west -see the first amendment- you are free to leave.)
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To: JamesP81

“If a person is going to adhere to a diet like this. . . “

They need to do it before they breed.


66 posted on 06/11/2008 11:49:00 AM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Mossad!)
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To: Jersey Republican Biker Chick

I always use a line with the Veggies that never fails to irritate, confuse and cause “deer in the headlights” looks.

Goes something like:

So, are you aware that your ancient ancestors fought their way up the food chain, through danger and sure swift death over the centuries so that you could eat sprouts and Tofu? Do you realize that if they had eaten grass and wet beans you would not be here now?


67 posted on 06/11/2008 11:52:29 AM PDT by alarm rider (Peace! through superior fire power....)
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To: Dawnsblood
"...Mum feels guilty about the whole thing and feels bad about it.”

Awww....poor muffin. Someone should rip her spine out and then see how she "feels" about it.

68 posted on 06/11/2008 11:54:05 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (The secret of Life is letting go. The secret of Love is letting it show.)
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To: BloodOrFreedom

Actually, vegetarians I know are overweight. Too much starch, too little protein.


69 posted on 06/11/2008 11:57:26 AM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
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To: Dawnsblood
In 2001, British vegans Hazmik and Garabet Manuelyan, from Staines, were sentenced to three years’ community rehabilitation after they admitted starving daughter Arenai, 10 months, to death. She had been fed nothing but breast milk, raw fruit, vegetables and nuts.

There must have been something else going on here. My son had Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome as an infant. His diet consisted solely of fruit, veg and breastmilk for the first 14 months of his life. Anything else would cause him to violently throw up til he ran out of stomach bile, followed by hours of lethargy. He was in the 99th growth percentile the whole time.

70 posted on 06/11/2008 12:02:27 PM PDT by Eepsy (12-26-2008 +1)
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To: Dawnsblood

I have two friends who are vegans. Both are hopelessly overweight. One shattered her ankle stepping off a curb and it took a very long time to heal. The other broke a rib just bumping into a piece of furniture. Again, it took forever to heal. Lack of protein, the main component of bone.

Meanwhile, they lecture everyone and pass out books. Like religious zealots, they seek converts to bolster their point of view, wanting desperately to make themselves right and the rest of the world wrong.


71 posted on 06/11/2008 12:02:53 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
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To: Dawnsblood

http://www.vegetariansareevil.com/


72 posted on 06/11/2008 12:12:32 PM PDT by fishtank (FIRST defeat Obama's communism, THEN resist McCain's liberalism. A good plan.)
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

I say don’t shame them, sterilized them!


73 posted on 06/11/2008 12:16:22 PM PDT by Skenderbej
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To: tob2

Vitamin pills are no guarantee that you will get all the missed vitamins you need. In fact many so called vitamin pills are useless, and in fact can be dangerous to your health. You should always try to eat a balanced diet that will provide you with all the vitamins, minerals and protein that you need without “pills” of any kind.
Many vitamin powers/compounds in pill form cannot be absorbed if the natural enzymes provided by fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and dairy which provide them naturally are not present.


74 posted on 06/11/2008 12:20:45 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe
Shame is a guiding force in cultural morality and individual behavior.

Shame is also effective in treating the disease of leftism. For example when leftists cry to seize oil company profits they should be immediately called on their envy so that they experience shame. This is especially effective against leftists because of their innate vanity. Vanity and envy go hand in hand and are related mental processes.

Shame is the most effective antidote for all the 7 deadly sins, of which leftists are walking examples. Prompt doses of shame works and we should use it much more often.

75 posted on 06/11/2008 12:21:36 PM PDT by Reeses (Leftism is powered by the evil force of envy.)
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To: jimmyray
"Sez you. Man was created a vegitarian, and the pre-flood earth, a worldwide greehouse, produced enough nutrients in plant matter to support a healthy diet. Post flood, however, meat was on the menu, because the vapor canopy was gone, nutritious food was reduced significantly, and meat was protein rich"

Nonsense. better go and read Genisis again. Look for the sentence "They (Animals) shall be meat for thee"

76 posted on 06/11/2008 12:28:00 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: Nathan Zachary

Thanks for posting that. I don’t know where I read/heard that before, but that was my belief as well.


77 posted on 06/11/2008 12:36:53 PM PDT by beaversmom
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To: Nathan Zachary

Confirmed hunter and carnivore here. That said, the first example of meat eating is post-flood with Noah:

“Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

(Genesis 9:4)

Pre-flood, strictly vegitarian.


78 posted on 06/11/2008 12:37:20 PM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (McCain is the best candidate of the Democrat party.)
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To: Nathan Zachary

Key word being “now”


79 posted on 06/11/2008 12:38:32 PM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (McCain is the best candidate of the Democrat party.)
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To: Nervous Tick

And give them a testicle transplant! Get Hillary’s lockbox over here...


80 posted on 06/11/2008 12:38:53 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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