It’s good to know that more kids are leaning towards becoming vegetarian. Although the parents in this article are vegetarians, they won’t force their children to follow the same diet when they become older. Eating non-meat products is the own choice of these kids mostly because they saw the Youtube videos showing the animal slaughtering process. Read on for the complete story

CEDAR FALLS — It’s dinner time at the Stanley home, and the kids are hungry.

J.T., 10, savors his mom’s minestrone. Alexandria, 15, compliments the zucchini grilled by her dad. And Emma, 7, takes a bite of portobello mushroom topped with red peppers, pepperjack cheese and bread crumbs — one of the clan’s favorite entrees.

“Our kids are not vegetarians, that’s something that they get to decide when they are adults,” Adrienne Stanley explained minutes before in the family’s Cedar Falls kitchen.

“But they are raised vegetarian — all the food we serve them is vegetarian,” clarified her husband, Rob, as he drizzled one of the dishes with garlic grapeseed oil. “They can make their own choices outside our home, but here, they get vegetarian foods.”

Despite the nuances in the kids’ diets — J.T. has sampled pepperoni pizza, while Alexandria passes on all meat products — the Stanley children are among an estimated 1 in 200 American youngsters who eat a plant-based diet. That figure, the result of the first national study of vegetarians under age 18, was released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And with the advent of YouTube, where videos showing the animal slaughtering process are just a click away, researchers expect the number of kids abstaining from meat to rise in the coming years.

That prediction has gained mixed responses from medical professionals. After all, a healthy vegetarian regimen is chock-full of fruits and vegetables. However, an unbalanced meatless diet can result in deficiencies, especially in growing kids, said Mary Steffensmeier, a diabetes and nutrition coordinator with Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in Waterloo.

“If it’s done right, it can certainly contain higher amounts of plant foods which are shown to be very high in vitamins, minerals and fiber,” she said. “But if it’s done wrong, it could end up being a diet low in vitamin D, calcium, iron, protein and B-12 — all of which are needed for various stages of growth, and bone and blood cell health.”

There are easy ways to replace those nutrients, but when it comes to kids’ nutrition, Dr. Brian Sims would prefer to see youngsters eat a variety of foods, including animal products.

“I think that it’s good to have a diet that’s moderate — moderate meat, moderate protein and moderate fat,” said the Covenant Medical Center pediatrician. “Keep everything in balance. Don’t go into the extremes.”

But for many vegetarians, the choice to keep meat out of their homes is a moral one. And although they may let their kids try a burger at a birthday party, stocking the fridge with sirloin is out of the question.

Dave Deibler and his wife Barb Schilf have followed a meatless diet for more than 20 years. Their 3-year-old, Owen, eats vegetarian dishes at home, but the couple occasionally orders him a hotdog when dining out.

Like the Stanley kids, Owen will make his own dietary choices when he is older. Until then, the toddler enjoys broccoli, macaroni, cheese and other vegetarian items. Deibler thinks Owen’s vegetarian foundation will serve him well as an adult, no matter what diet he follows.

“I have a somewhat limited scope to compare him to, but I think he is a bit of an adventurous eater,” Deibler said. “He calls tofu (pieces) ‘nummies.’ They’re high in protein and he can just pop them in his mouth. And he loves cauliflower, � What kid loves cauliflower?”

The Cancer Project, a nonprofit agency that studies the role diet plays in keeping people healthy, endorses a vegetarian meal plan for children. The organization promotes consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while citing studies by the American Institute for Cancer Research and Harvard University that show a vegetarian diet can help prevent obesity and decrease an individual’s chances of developing heart disease and some forms of cancer.

Stanley, who also owns Roots Market in Cedar Falls, said he feels good about feeding his children vegetarian fare because of its health benefits. During Friday’s supper, the family dimmed the dining room lights, lit three small candles and turned on soothing instrumental music. The parents sipped wine while the kids guzzled glasses of milk.

The meal was loaded with antioxidants, and free of guilt for Alexandria, a student at Northern University High School.

“When I was little, I did try meat, but I didn’t enjoy it,” said the teen. “I became a vegetarian because I learned how companies … treat their animals. I didn’t want to be involved in that.”

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