Climate “Foodprint”

The very first Earth Day was a really big deal when I was a kid back in 1970, and it’s still a big deal for kids today. That’s because children’s health is, even more than their parents’, threatened by environmental degradation and destruction. Kids today have a deep understanding that the climate crisis is posing real dangers to their present and future health and prosperity. Fortunately, a swelling number of their parents and pediatricians — adults who actually have a voice and some capabilities to reverse the growing threats covered on The PediaBlog this week (from plastic and petrochemical pollution, for example, and from air pollution) — also comprehend this basic climate reality.

With Earth Day 2023 just two days away, it’s important to recognize how difficult it is for children to grow up in places that are toxic, on a planet where the climate system is rapidly deteriorating. It’s been tough for parents, too. So it is encouraging to see children and teenagers, who face denial, delay, and inaction by adults who should know better, take matters into their own small hands to make the world they are inheriting from us a better, safer, and healthier place to live and breathe… and eat.

Kids are learning very well in school and at home about their climate “foodprint”, consisting of “the carbon, chemical, water and land imprint of our food choices,” according to Earth Day Network organizers:

This encompasses everything including how our food is grown (organic vs. using pesticides and herbicides, how far our food travels, how much of our food is wasted, the packaging our food comes in and other aspects of the entire life cycle of our food choices). Decreasing your foodprint could include ideas such as adopting a more plant-based diet and buying food locally. Advocating for climate change action will also help drive societies towards developing more productive and equitable processes for feeding the world.

 

Pediatricians Lisa Patel, M.D. and Amanda Millstein, M.D. say that moving to a plant-based diet doesn’t mean entirely giving up meats and dairy:

Eating a plant-based diet can be a beneficial choice for your family. It does not necessarily mean you stop eating all meat or dairy products. It means that a majority of your food comes from plant-based sources such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, beans, and grains.

Switching to a more plant-based diet not only may have health benefits [lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure], but can be good for the environment as well. Meat and dairy production require more water and land, and this contributes to higher greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change.

 

General guidelines for a healthy plant-based diet are simple and usually accepted by most children, especially if foods are introduced early and often:

• Make at least half of your plate vegetables at lunch and dinner, choosing vegetables that are a variety of colors. Also aim to eat green leafy vegetables at least once per day.

• Eat smaller amounts of meat or eliminate meat altogether from 1-2 meals per week for your family. Plant-based protein options that can create a filling meal include beans, tofu, lentils, and nuts.

• Choose healthy fats, which can be found in nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, and olive oils.

• Make fruit the nightly dessert for your family.​

 

Some older kids and teenagers make the conscious choice of avoiding meat altogether, says pediatrician Natalie D. Muth, M.D.:

Vegetarian diets are healthy for kids, as long as they get key nutrients needed to grow healthy and strong. This can take some extra planning at mealtime, though.

About 5% of children are vegetarian and 2% are vegan, according to a national survey commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group.

Vegetarian diets are becoming more common. Reasons range from healthfulness to concerns about animal welfare or the environment.

 

What makes a vegetarian anyway? The American Academy of Pediatrics explains:

Vegetarians differ in degree, just as they differ in their reasons for adopting a vegetarian lifestyle.

• Partial or semi-vegetarians avoid some but not all animal products. They may eat chicken or fish and dairy products but no meat. Some eat fish but no poultry.

• Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products but avoid all flesh—they avoid “food with a face;” lactovegetarians don’t eat eggs.

• Vegans follow a strict diet that excludes all foods derived from animals, including eggs and dairy products.

• Fruitarians eat only fruit, nuts and seeds, honey, whole grains, and olive oil.

 

It’s important for parents to discuss what their kids are eating with the pediatrician. It’s up to the pediatrician to decide whether kids are getting enough nutrition in every bite or whether the eating plan needs to be bolstered with extra vitamins or nutritional supplements, says Dr. Muth:

Overall, vegetarian  diets tend to be low in saturated fat and animal protein and high in fiber, folate, vitamins C and E, carotenoids, and some phytochemicals. Children and adolescents who follow a  vegetarian  eating plan tend to consume more fruits and vegetables and less sweets, salty snacks, and saturated fat than their nonvegetarian peers. They also tend to be at lower risk for overweight and obesity.

In the past, experts worried that following a vegetarian diet would lead to nutritional deficiencies in children. Today, we know that’s generally not the case with well planned vegetarian  eating plans that include enough of the following nutrients:

• Protein

• Iron

• Zinc

• Vitamin B12

• Calcium

• Vitamin D

• EPA + DHA Omega 3 Fatty Acids

 

Children and teenagers are anxious about their planet and their health, and they are increasingly taking up plant-based and vegetarian diets in the hope of making positive impacts on both.

Read more about how to ensure children are getting complete, balanced, and healthy nutrition from their plant-based eating plans here.

 

Dr. Ketyer is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change and President of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania.

 

(Google Images)

 

source https://www.thepediablog.com/2023/04/20/climate-foodprint/