How vegetarian diets could harm your child's IQ

by TIM UTTON, Daily Mail

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Children's mental development is at risk from not eating enough red meat and the rise of vegetarianism among parents who make their families follow suit, doctors warned yesterday.

The result can be iron deficiency-which puts millions of youngsters in danger of growing up with lower IQs.

Iron deficiency is a growing worry and is now Britain's most common nutritional disorder, affecting one in four infants in some parts of the country, a conference on child nutrition heard.

It can develop into anaemia, which is proven to lower IQ levels.

Children suffering a lack of iron will also have decreased appetite, lethargy, developmental delays and behavioural problems.

The decline in the traditional meal of meat and two vegetables over the years may have contributed to the rising problem.

The British Nutrition Foundation has warned that, among teenage girls, iron deficiency anaemia is three times more common in vegetarians than meat eaters. It is also three times more common in girls who have tried to lose weight than those who have not.

But another key factor in the problem is mothers taking babies off breast milk too early and substituting cows' milk, which is low in iron.

Dr Margaret Lawson, of the Institute of Child Health, said: 'There have been a number of studies showing that children with severe iron deficiency do less well in things like development and intelligence tests during childhood.

It appears to be much more common in families on low income and children from ethnic minority groups.

'Even knocking a few points off IQ means children are not reaching their true potential.

'The best thing that mothers can do is breastfeed their baby. If they are not able to do that, then introducing one of the iron-fortified drinks on the market is the next best thing.'

In a survey of 700 parents for Cow & Gate, which is sponsoring the conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London, nine out of ten parents were unaware that feeding cows' milk as the primary drink to babies in their first year was one of the main risk factors associated with iron deficiency.

Nearly half thought, wrongly, that fish fingers were a good source of the mineral. The most easily absorbed type of iron is found in meat and some other animalderived foods.

Iron-fortified foods or formula milks can be used alongside breastfeeding and weaning in infants over six months to prevent iron deficiency. >