Journal of Clinical Pediatrics ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (2): 157-162.doi: 10.12372/jcp.2025.23e1184

• Literature Review • Previous Articles    

The effect of vegetarian diet on children and adolescents

ZHANG Shuo1,3, ZHAO Xuemin1,2, SHEN Xiuhua1,2,4()   

  1. 1. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai200092, China
    2. Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Medical Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai200025, China
    3. Pediatric Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai201102, China
    4. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Pediatric Digestion and Nutrition, Shanghai 200092 China
  • Received:2023-12-12 Accepted:2024-12-10 Published:2025-02-15 Online:2025-02-12

Abstract:

Vegetarian diets have become increasingly popular due to their perceived health benefits, with the majority of research focusing on the nutritional status and disease implications in adults. However, less attention has been paid to children and adolescents with plant-based food pattern. This review has systematically searched 24 relevant researches on vegetarian children and adolescents up to August 2023 and summarized the overall nutritional status, including vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium and iron. Additionally, it has demonstrated the impact of vegetarianism on growth and its association with diseases of vegetarian children and adolescents. Further, more studies are warranted to enhance health workers’ understanding about healthy vegetarian patterns and provide scientific evidence to guide children and adolescents to have a balanced vegetarian diet, and potentially inspire new approaches to dietary therapy for metabolic diseases.

Key words: children, adolescents, vegetarian diet, growth and development, nutritional status