Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 18:32     Subject: 11 year old vegan

Agree with just about everything in this thread.

1. Continue to watch for signs of an eating disorder, ARFID, or OCD tendencies

2. If you want to do this right, consult a licensed Registered Dietician.

3. Think about Vit B12, Vit D, iron, and complete proteins.

And I'll add this is a great time to consider world cuisines which have naturally vegetarian or vegan options (because vegetarian sometimes has an edge on ease in converting to vegan).
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 18:27     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I feel like you could find most of this info from a google search.
We are not vegan but eat a lot of vegan foods.
If youre making meatballs, I would just make the vegan ones and have everyone eat the same thing.
easy to use non dairy milk in place of cows milk. Almond milk has more calcium that cows milk.
Does she like nuts and nut butters?


I would not let an 11 year old dictate the food choices of the entire family. And they clearly are not making meatballs.


OP here,

Why couldn’t an 11 year old make meatballs?


There is no such thing as vegan meatballs.

Meatballs, by definition, are meat.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 18:26     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely supplement B12 and you might also look into whether she needs zinc.

I would have a lot of concerns about veganism in an 11-year-old girl too—it is such a common age for disordered eating to arise. Some vegans I know will eat eggs from backyard chickens. Assuming keeping chickens is too much, maybe you could buy ones from someone who raises them in good conditions?


The issue, according to kid, is that even if the backyard birds are currently treated well, there were almost certainly male chicks culled or raised for meat in order for the backyard chicken owner to get a flock of egg layers.


Do she just wants chickens to die and rot in the ground?

Her argument is not rational.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 18:24     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:Definitely supplement B12 and you might also look into whether she needs zinc.

I would have a lot of concerns about veganism in an 11-year-old girl too—it is such a common age for disordered eating to arise. Some vegans I know will eat eggs from backyard chickens. Assuming keeping chickens is too much, maybe you could buy ones from someone who raises them in good conditions?


She will not get enough iron or protein for a girl going into puberty.

Does she have a cell phone OP?

If my 11 year old was asking to do something unhealthy and trendy like becoming a vegan, I would definitely be locking down internet usage and make sure she isn't on tiktok, youtube or instagram.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 18:21     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I feel like you could find most of this info from a google search.
We are not vegan but eat a lot of vegan foods.
If youre making meatballs, I would just make the vegan ones and have everyone eat the same thing.
easy to use non dairy milk in place of cows milk. Almond milk has more calcium that cows milk.
Does she like nuts and nut butters?


I would not let an 11 year old dictate the food choices of the entire family. And they clearly are not making meatballs.


Vegan meat is very unhealthy, overprocessed and full of artificial flavors.

You might as well eat genetically modified chicken or beef that was injected with a bunch of hormones.

Don't be the irresponsible parent that feeds their developing kids vegan fake "meat"
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 16:39     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely supplement B12 and you might also look into whether she needs zinc.

I would have a lot of concerns about veganism in an 11-year-old girl too—it is such a common age for disordered eating to arise. Some vegans I know will eat eggs from backyard chickens. Assuming keeping chickens is too much, maybe you could buy ones from someone who raises them in good conditions?


The issue, according to kid, is that even if the backyard birds are currently treated well, there were almost certainly male chicks culled or raised for meat in order for the backyard chicken owner to get a flock of egg layers.


OK. Just a thought. fWIW I have several close friends and relatives who are “mostly vegan” and in certain circumstances they will eat fish (one of them), cheese, or eggs. In general I would put the emphasis with her on making more humane choices/substitutions rather than trying to be 100% vegan, which IME can become obsessional. For example, with my child I made the argument that if the family as a whole (5 ppl) eats a vegan dinner twice a week, that creates more impact in terms of animal welfare than him being exclusively vegan at all times. This was not totally persuasive to him but it shifts the focus away from personal perfectionism.

FWIW my son has extreme empathy for animals and wanted to be vegan at about age 10. In his case he was later diagnosed with ARFID, an eating disorder that does not have to do with body image and is connected to his OCD. He is no longer vegan or even vegetarian- he is a young adult now- but anyway, veganism can really exacerbate OCD tendencies. That may not be relevant to her but I didn’t know when he started down this path.


OP here,

I know that there's a risk of veganism being a step towards orthorexia or AFRID or anorexia, and i will be watching carefully. If her sister asked to be vegan, i'd be worried, because she can be pickier, and more anxious about food already. But she's a kid who transitioned easily to vegetarianism. She learned to cook vegetarian food, and was willing to try a large variety of things. I know that many kids who are vegan or vegetarian restrict choices of calories, but she eats a good variety and has a large appetite. She's also not at all OCD in other ways.

So, of course we'll watch carefully, but I am pretty optimistic that this isn't an ED.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 09:44     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely supplement B12 and you might also look into whether she needs zinc.

I would have a lot of concerns about veganism in an 11-year-old girl too—it is such a common age for disordered eating to arise. Some vegans I know will eat eggs from backyard chickens. Assuming keeping chickens is too much, maybe you could buy ones from someone who raises them in good conditions?


The issue, according to kid, is that even if the backyard birds are currently treated well, there were almost certainly male chicks culled or raised for meat in order for the backyard chicken owner to get a flock of egg layers.


OK. Just a thought. fWIW I have several close friends and relatives who are “mostly vegan” and in certain circumstances they will eat fish (one of them), cheese, or eggs. In general I would put the emphasis with her on making more humane choices/substitutions rather than trying to be 100% vegan, which IME can become obsessional. For example, with my child I made the argument that if the family as a whole (5 ppl) eats a vegan dinner twice a week, that creates more impact in terms of animal welfare than him being exclusively vegan at all times. This was not totally persuasive to him but it shifts the focus away from personal perfectionism.

FWIW my son has extreme empathy for animals and wanted to be vegan at about age 10. In his case he was later diagnosed with ARFID, an eating disorder that does not have to do with body image and is connected to his OCD. He is no longer vegan or even vegetarian- he is a young adult now- but anyway, veganism can really exacerbate OCD tendencies. That may not be relevant to her but I didn’t know when he started down this path.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 09:18     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:Definitely supplement B12 and you might also look into whether she needs zinc.

I would have a lot of concerns about veganism in an 11-year-old girl too—it is such a common age for disordered eating to arise. Some vegans I know will eat eggs from backyard chickens. Assuming keeping chickens is too much, maybe you could buy ones from someone who raises them in good conditions?


The issue, according to kid, is that even if the backyard birds are currently treated well, there were almost certainly male chicks culled or raised for meat in order for the backyard chicken owner to get a flock of egg layers.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 09:16     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I feel like you could find most of this info from a google search.
We are not vegan but eat a lot of vegan foods.
If youre making meatballs, I would just make the vegan ones and have everyone eat the same thing.
easy to use non dairy milk in place of cows milk. Almond milk has more calcium that cows milk.
Does she like nuts and nut butters?


I would not let an 11 year old dictate the food choices of the entire family. And they clearly are not making meatballs.


OP here,

Why couldn’t an 11 year old make meatballs?
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 09:14     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Definitely supplement B12 and you might also look into whether she needs zinc.

I would have a lot of concerns about veganism in an 11-year-old girl too—it is such a common age for disordered eating to arise. Some vegans I know will eat eggs from backyard chickens. Assuming keeping chickens is too much, maybe you could buy ones from someone who raises them in good conditions?
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 09:04     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1. B12. A must-have. Get the weekly sublingual ones. Needs saliva to work best. Nutritional yeast and miso are used in many recipes and healthy.
2. Try not to do vegan junk food, opt for whole proteins like tofu soybeans tempeh and look at forks over knives, happy herbivore, for good recipes. Del sroufe has good videos on cooking how to.
3. Congrats to her for choosing healthy diet!
Enjoy the adventure.


Thanks, we already use nutritional yeast and yeast a fair amount, and our plan is to try a few types of fortified plant milks to find something she likes.

Is that enough B12, or would you add some kind of supplement?


I’d still definitely recommend b12:
“For adults under age 65, the easiest way to get B12 is to take at least one 2,000 mcg supplement each week or a daily dose of 50 mcg. Note that these doses are specific to cyanocobalamin, the preferred supplemental form of vitamin B12, as there is insufficient evidence to support the efficacy of the other forms, like methylcobalamin.”

A good source for nutrition information: https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/vitamin-b12/
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 09:03     Subject: 11 year old vegan
You should consult an RD, not randoms on the internet. It’s especially important for a growing child to receive the optimum nutrition if you’re not familiar with the diet.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 08:59     Subject: Re:11 year old vegan
"veganism has been associated with adverse health outcomes, namely, nervous, skeletal, and immune system impairments, hematological disorders, as well as mental health problems due to the potential for micro and macronutrient deficits. The goal of this review article is to discuss the current literature on the impact and long-term consequences of veganism on vulnerable populations, including children, adolescents, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and fetal outcomes in strict vegan mothers. It also focuses on the many deficiencies of the vegan diet, especially vitamin B12, and the related increased risk of malignancies."

"Additionally, vegans have a greater prevalence of mental health problems"

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10027313/

Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 08:57     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:I feel like you could find most of this info from a google search.
We are not vegan but eat a lot of vegan foods.
If youre making meatballs, I would just make the vegan ones and have everyone eat the same thing.
easy to use non dairy milk in place of cows milk. Almond milk has more calcium that cows milk.
Does she like nuts and nut butters?


I would not let an 11 year old dictate the food choices of the entire family. And they clearly are not making meatballs.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 08:04     Subject: 11 year old vegan
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Cooking is so much work. I would teach her some easy vegan things she can make on her own. I wouldn’t be adding a whole second dinner I have to make. I’m happy to do it if there is an actual medical reason why one of the kids can’t eat something but not for a special diet they decided they wanted to have at 11.


In our family, we take turns cooking meals that work for everyone. So, she'll prepare vegan food for the whole family once or twice a week. On the other days, when her siblings or a parents prepare a meal, they'll either make it so that the meat/dairy/eggs can be left off. So, for example, tonight I'm going to try this:

https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/food-and-drink/leek-lentils-halloumi-dinner-recipe-b1933934.html

with vegetable stock, and just leave the cheese off hers.

But I need more recipes that work. I need more ideas for recipes, as well as some guidance and how to judge that she's getting enough.


Consult a dietician, like PP said. How would a rando on this board who has never met your daughter be able to give you guidance on whether she's getting enough???


I guess I was expecting things like

"My pediatrician recommended this particular supplement"

or

"Here are some recipes or products my kids like"

or

"This book had a lot of good info"

or

"Here is a dietician we found helpful."

or

"My kid's pediatrician suggested we aim for X grams of protein a day."