¿Es posible llevar a cabo una alimentación vegana en edad pediátrica? Riesgos y beneficios

Abstract

Introduction: After the first six months of life, milk is not enough to supply the nutritional necessities and it is recommended to start the complementary feeding. Currently, there is an increase in the number of families who adopt a vegan complementary feeding, which is considered to be high-risk. The possible risks and benefits of carrying out this type of feeding are explained below. ! Method: This study is based on a literature review about vegan diets in pediatric ages using these databases: Google Academic Search, PubMed, Lilacs and Cochrane Library. A series of descriptors on free language vocabulary from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) were used. Articles related to the aim of the study were included. Results: In PubMed, 44 articles were obtained, but only 6 were accepted after using the exclusion criteria. There were no articles obtained from Cochrane Library. Finally, 8 articles were identified in Lilacs of which only 1 met the requirements. In total, 7 articles related to the study have been found. Discussion: Vegan diets, correctly scheduled, are healthy and nutritionally appropriate in pediatric ages since they provide the co rrect development of the infants. On the other hand, there is very little literature about the topic which would allow to know more about the risks and benefits of a vegan diet so that Health professionals are well informed and able to counsel families.