Malnutrition in infants receiving cult diets: a form of child abuse.

Nutritional complications in an infant fed exclusively on homemade sesame seed emulsion.

“…Diets based solely on plant food sources (totally vegetarian or vegan) are extremely limited in nutri tional value; therefore, the probabilities of nutritional deficiencies are great [1][2][3]. We present below a nutritional complication which resulted primarily from the administration of the infant's food through a bottle which allowed the most nutritious portion to remain after the infant ceased feeding.…”

Vegetarian nutrition

“…It is recommended that all children under 2 years of age (and up to 5 years of age if nutritional status is low) receive supplements of vitamin drops containing vitamins A, C and D. Foods fortified with vitamin B 12 should be included in a vegan diet and, if necessary, a vitamin B 12 supplement. Malnutrition and poor growth, and in a few cases death, have been reported among infants and children fed very restricted vegan and macrobiotic diets and these diets are not recommended (Roberts et al . 1979; Zmora et al .…”

Who should manage infants and young children with food induced symptoms?

“…A unified clinical approach may facilitate early referral of suspected food induced disorders, reduce diagnostic delay, and prevent unnecessary, potentially harmful dietary restrictions. [32][33][34][35][36] Fragmention of care may be avoided by setting up regional allergy networks of general paediatricians and subspecialists in order to achieve early referral to screening clinics, and secondary or tertiary specialist assessment of infants and children with complex medical or nutritional requirements. Acute haemorrhagic oedema of infancy A 6 month old clinically well child presented with a rash and peripheral non-pitting oedema following an upper respiratory tract infection (fig 1).…”