ABSTRACT
I. Introduction ...................................................................................... 174 II. Definitions ........................................................................................ 175
A. Categories of Vegetarian Diets ................................................. 175 B. Types of Growth Studies.......................................................... 175 C. Developmental Age vs. Chronological Age ............................ 176
III. Review of the Studies of Growth and Development of Vegetarian Infants, Children, and Adolescents .............................. 176 A. Case Studies............................................................................... 176 B. Group Studies............................................................................ 177
1. Vegetarian Categories ......................................................... 177 2. Age Groups ......................................................................... 177 3. Type of Study ..................................................................... 177 4. Anthropometry .................................................................... 177 5. Sample ................................................................................. 177
C. Overview of the Studies by Dietary Category........................ 180 1. Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian (LOV) Children and
Adolescents ......................................................................... 180
a. SDA Studies .................................................................. 180 b. Flemish Vegetarian Children, Adolescents, and
Young Adults Study ..................................................... 181 c. Longitudinal Growth Study in Northwest
England ......................................................................... 182 d. Indian Vegetarian Children in Britain......................... 183 e. Indian Vegetarian Children in Madras........................ 183
2. Vegan Children.................................................................... 183 a. The Farm Studies ......................................................... 183 b. The U.K. Vegan Studies............................................... 185 3. Macrobiotic Children.................................................... 186 a. The Boston Studies (Vegetarian and
Macrobiotic) .................................................................. 186 b. Dutch Children on Alternative Diets .......................... 188
IV. Summary and Conclusions.............................................................. 190 References .................................................................................................. 191
Human life span in the Western world is approximately 75 to 80 years. About one quarter of an individual’s life span is devoted to the processes of growth and development conditioned by genetic and environmental factors. In the context of environmental factors, nutrition is paramount and of prime concern for the general good health of the growing organism. The dependency for food of infants and young children upon their parents, especially their mothers, and upon social institutions, has important links with the process of growth and development. The environmental factor is under maternal control during the gestational period and through most of infancy and childhood.