Childhood Obesity

Choosing a plant-based eating style is a simple way to achieve or maintain a healthy weight because such dietary patterns require no calorie counting and contain the nutrients a fit body needs. Vegetarians have been shown to be leaner than their meat-eating peers in a number of scientific studies,^5,6 and vegetarian diets have also been shown to be effective in weight loss.⁷

Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician, medical researcher, and teacher, advised in his book Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care that weight-loss programs for children should be based upon changing the types of foods children eat rather than the amount of food they eat. He encouraged shifting the entire family away from oily fried foods, meats, and dairy products and toward low-fat, plant-based foods: grains, pasta, vegetables, legumes, and fruit. When this is done, he stated, “weight loss typically occurs without anyone going hungry.”^6,8 This is the key to lifelong weight maintenance. The scientific evidence is clear: The closer a family gets to a pure vegetarian diet, the healthier and leaner they’ll be.

See How to Go Veg for ideas for making the switch to a vegetarian diet.

References

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