My 10 Year Old Wants to Try Being a Vegetarian.

I would start with a google search. I looked up vegetarian diets for kids. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/vegetarian_diets...
http://www.thevegetariansite.com/vegchild.htm
There were many other sites on there as well. Maybe you can try asking here if there is any kid of meat that she will eat. I have a daughter who is in 5th grade, and she is sort of a vegetarian. She likes chicken breast, But does not like any kind of red meat of sea food. But I am the same way. We take multi-vit. and an extra vit. C. I think that she is making a good decision. Grandma's don't Always know best.

Hi, I have been vegetarian for fifteen years. I stopped eating meat when I was 12. For nutritional information, I would recommend going to your library first, or a good bookstore, to get the best information. Online, you could try searching "vegetarian nutrition" or "vegetarian recipes" for meal ideas. www.vegweb.org is one of my favorite sites.
Personally, for protein and vitamin B, I consume a variety of beans, rice, soy products, lentils, nuts and seeds. Soymilk is enriched with extra vitamin B. Tofu can be a surprisingly versatile food (usually located with the produce). And for convenience, brands like Morningstar and Boca make a variety of frozen "fake-meat" products, like veggie-burgers and veggie-nuggets (found in the freezer section). My favorite is Soyrizo. At health-food stores and some large supermarkets, you can find a product called Textured vegetable protein, TVP, which can be used in many recipes instead of ground beef.
Hope this helps you get started!
L.

Please let her try... really the only things that we get from meat are iron and protein. Cocoa wheats have a TON of iron... beans and peanut butter are good for protein. There are also veggie burgers and vegitarian chicken nuggets n all kinds of stuff. If you have any worries that she may not be getting enough of something... just feed her a chewable vit daily. I give one to my kids... I just think of it as a good measure all around. Good Luck and I hope this helps... OH BTW.. about Grandma???? You have have to be firm with her and tell her that your daughter is old enough to make a decition about her eating habbits and you resect her enough to let her try... and ask her to do the same... I mean it's not like your daughter came up to you one day and said... "Mom... I want to be on a chocolate and soda pop diet." Ya know?

Try going to Wild Oats in Nora Plaza on 86th street. Just walk around and let her pick out foods she's willing to try. You can also try Trader Joe's (they have a couple of locations).

I actually have a 12 and 7 year old vegetarians. They decided on their own that this is what they wanted for pure humanitarian reasons. I have had to buy food that is non-meat and substitute in other areas. I make all of the same foods but use non-meat foods in the areas where it calls for meat. My kids are healthier than ever after about a week or so of there body getting use to the new regiment.

My kids father and grandmother absolutely disagree with it and have forced them to eat meat when they are visiting them. I actually have told them that they can't force them to eat the meat and if that is what they want then the other family members will just have to figure out a way around it. I spoke to my pediatrician about it and she said that as long as they were getting the other major groups and not skimming on the healthy groups than they were doing a great thing and even congratulated them on such an adult decision.

There are plenty of ways for kids to get what they need when they don't eat meat. They just need to realize that they have to eat certain other foods that keep them healthy. Sometimes kids want to vegetarians because they don't want to have to eat the meat that is served. What they don't realize is that our bodies have to have protein and it has be replaced with something else. If she is still doing dairy that leaves some good options as well as eggs if she will continue to eat them. You also have nuts, soy (tofu and other options), and beans.

As for her Grandmother as long as she is getting plenty of protein and eating healthy foods you should just tell her she is eating healthier than the rest of us.

I would have your 10 year old do the research to find out what she needs to be healthy. Most 10 year olds I know are pretty internet smart and can come up with the websites that give them the info. Maybe she can present her findings to Grandma and explain it herself. Since I am not sure exactly what Grandma is against that might not work for you but thought it might be an option.

There are a lot of great Vegetarian cookbooks out there some are even for kids and teens.

I have found a wonderful program, you can find it on www.hacres.com I follow this program and it has done wonders for me.
Good luck!

Well, you want to make sure she is getting both enough protein and enough B12. Since B12 only comes from animal products, she'll need to take a supplement. Protein can be found in soy products (including tofu) and peanuts. Also, it's good to make sure she varies the kinds of veggies she eats to get a good balance of vitamins and minerals. How far is she planning to take it? I mean, is she still going to eat dairy products but not meat? If she's still including these in her diet, fish and eggs are good to incorporate into meals.

I don't know anything really about kids being vegetarians, but i did find this web page that might be helpful...
http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/vegdietkids

when my daughter was that age, she decided that she wanted to be a vegetarian, but then thought that she didn't want to actually give all meat - just pork. kids are funny sometimes. good luck.

I went through this but I was 15. I went to a natural foods store and asked ALOT of questions. It lasted for me for about 6 months then I had to have a burger. Just let grandma know that at least she is getting healthy foods and eating veggies as to where most kids wont touch them. Good Luck.

I've been a vegetarian since I was 12. I'm 36 now, so that's almost a quarter century of vegetarianism.

If you google "vegetarian kids" you'll find lots of great sites. Several of the best have already been mentioned, but I would add http://www.vrg.org/family/kidsindex.htm

If you're looking for recipe books, I would suggest "The Vegetarian Lunchbasket" , "Kids Can Cook: Vegetarian Recipes" , "Cooking for Your Vegetarian Kids" and "The Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook".

I'm not sure what to do about Grandma. If her concerns are nutritional the resources suggested in this thread should ease her mind. If she has some irrational prejudice against vegetarianism, then I guess you just have to be firm with her. Your daughter's body belongs to her, and no one has the right to do anything to her against her will, including force-feeding her. If Grandma refuses to respect your daughter's right to control her own body then I would think that your daughter has the right not to be alone with her grandmother. But hopefully the situation isn't as serious as that. Several of my aunts were worried about my decision to go vegetarian, and would try to sneak meat into my food, but my parents stood up for me and everything was fine. After a few years it became obvious that a) I wasn't going to change my mind, and b) I wasn't going to die of malnutrition, so they got used to it. I usually bring a vegetarian dish to family events so the host doesn't have to worry about catering -- at first some relatives thought that was a bit weird, but now they ask me to make sure to bring enough for everyone :-)

Best of luck to your daughter!