Abstract

Concerns have been expressed for the ability of some vegetarian diets to support normal growth of children. Animal protein or meat intake showed a positive relationship to attained height in children from developing countries. In this study, the relationship between meat intake/vegetarian status and physical growth was investigated in children living in California.

Height and weight were collected on 2,272 Caucasian children aged 6-18 years attending Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) or public schools who participated in a two year longitudinal study. Age-, sex-, and school-specific mean heights and weights were at or above the national reference values. Sex-specific, age-adjusted regression analysis showed that SDA boys were on the average 1.6 cm taller (p<0.001) than public school boys, but no difference was found for the girls. SDA school boys and girls were significantly leaner (-1.27 kg and -1.16 kg, respectively) than their counterparts in public schools when weight differences were tested after controlling for height.

The administration of a food frequency questionnaire to a subsample of 1,765 children, showed that one third of SDA children were lacto-ovo vegetarians (meat intake <1/wk), another third were low meat eaters (1/wk - <1/d), and 31% ate meat products once or more per day. In contrast, 92% of public school children ate meat daily. Among SDA children, vegetarian boys and girls were on the average 2.5 cm (p<0.001) and 2.0 cm (p=0.01) taller, respectively, than their non-vegetarian classmates. Height was not associated, however, with meat intake for either sex among public school children.

SDA lifetime vegetarian boys and girls were 3.1 and 2.2 cm taller compared to their classmates who had consumed meat throughout their lifetime. When controlling for parental height, socioeconomic status and passive smoking exposure, the differences were 3.3 and 2.2 cm for boys and girls, respectively.

These findings show that meat intake is not required for normal growth. A lifetime vegetarian diet supports physical growth of school-aged children at or above national standards.

LLU Discipline

Nutrition

Department

Nutrition

School

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Kristian D. Lindsted

Second Advisor

Ralph D. Harris

Third Advisor

Patricia K. Johnston

Fourth Advisor

Albert Sanchez

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Year Degree Awarded

1989

Date (Title Page)

6-1989

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Child Nutrition; Growth; Meat; Vegetarianism

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

xi; 126

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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