A one-year-old boy in Milan who was raised on a strict vegan diet has been removed from his parents custody after he was found to weigh as much as a three-month-old baby.
After being taken to hospital by his grandparents, doctors discovered he weighed just 5kg. Blood tests showed his calcium levels were only at “the minimum [he] needs to survive”.
The child needed emergency surgery because of a heart condition and is now recovering.
Although his heart problems weren’t caused by his diet, they are thought to have been exacerbated by it, since low calcium levels can cause the heart to beat irregularly.
“It's clear the child was being fed a strict vegan diet which was incompatible with his young age,” Judge Ciro Cascone told the Italian newspaper Corriere. Mr Cascone said the parents of the child had neglected to give him supplements in place of what was missing in his diet.
A paediatrician at the hospital where the boy is being treated said: “It's not a problem if parents want to raise their children using alternative or even unusual diets, but care needs to be taken to make up for any nutritional shortfalls using supplements.
"For example, the one-year-old child we are treating should have been taking iron and calcium."
Following the hospital visit, prosecutors opened an inquiry into the case and ordered the boy be removed from his parents. A children’s court will now decide whether the boy should now be looked after by his grandparents.
This is not the first case where vegan diets have raised alarm in Italy. According to Italian news agency Eco di Bergamo, last year a vegetarian mother was ordered by a court to cook meat for her son at least once a week.
