Vegetarian couple 'banned from adopting'

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A couple on the Greek island of Crete have reportedly been banned from adopting children because of their dietary choices.

According to AFP, welfare services fear that the family will pass on their vegetarianism to any child they adopt.

Head of the city's welfare services Spyros Epitropakis said: "We asked the University of Crete medical school on the issue and they said the child's diet must include meat, fish, etc.

"We do not discriminate but we were obliged to check this out. The issue is now in the hands of the judicial authorities."

However, paediatrician and nutrition researcher Antonis Kafatos, whose recommendation was reportedly used by the adoption services, said: "It's unreasonable not to be given the child for being vegetarian.

"A child needs to eat fish, seafood and dairy products among other things, without meat being essential. But if the family has no intention of imposing its diet habits on the child, I don't see where the problem is."

The case will reportedly be examined by the relevant authorities this week.

Source: Digital Spy


This does sound a bit discriminating if you ask me.

Sure, I can see their point a little, but shouldn't the child have a choice when they get to a certain age if they want to be a vegetarian or not? I believe forcing a diet would be wrong at such a young and vulnerable age, but the freedom to choose when they're old enough would be sufficient enough.
 
I dunno, some parents are pretty adamant about forcing diets on children. My mum forced me to be a vegetarian pretty much.. my whole life. Anything with a face on it was Bambi pretty much, and I didn't dare try anything. I think the first time I actually tried pepperoni pizza and bacon an stuff was when I was abroad and met my ex, and because my mum wasn't there to tell me no.

My diet's changed and I eat a lot of meat now (ohohoo) but the texture of ground beef (actually all beef) and steak.. and a few other things I can't remember right now has thrown me off. There's a lot of things now I still won't eat because I haven't grown accustomed to it.

I should probably see a doctor about whether I have any deficiencies because of it. :hmmm:

That said, I don't think a diet should provide whether or not these people can adopt a kid. If they killed animals for sport, then yeah, forbid it. Whether they DON'T eat animals.. that's pretty... :|
 
Actually there have been cases of children becoming ill from their vegitarian parents choice of eating habbits. Its actually a very realistic thing thet was done,why should a child suffer malnutrition because their parents think eating meat is horrid?
I feel for the couple but realistically all they realy had to do was conform to the childs health and feed it acordingly even if they didnt like the idea of it and im sure they would have been given the child.
Who wants to take neutrition supplements everyday just because of a lifestyle?
I was vegan for a while so I understand the parents but ive never believed a child should be forced in to a way of life thet is not of their choice,being a vegitarian is included in that
 
I don't really understand Vegetarians... because I love meat with a passion but how ridiculous not to let them have a kid.
An orphan needs a home, they want a family and the adoption agencies just make it hard for good families to adopt kids.

And anyway, isn't it healthier to be a Veggie so long as you eat beans, eggs, milk etc?

Ridiculous!
 
"A child needs to eat fish, seafood and dairy products among other things, without meat being essential. But if the family has no intention of imposing its diet habits on the child, I don't see where the problem is."

This.

Just because the parents are vegetarians doesn't mean they're automatically going to impose such food onto the child nor does it mean they're going to stop the child from eating meat. If they do adopt the child and do impose it and the child decides he/she doesn't like vegetarian food, then what?
 
I'm pretty sure all parents 'impose' their diet on their children. If they find the idea of eating animals abhorrent that's not going to change. This obviously depends on the age of the child, but it might be a long time before the child is old enough to be able to consider if he wants to be a vegetarian or not. I don't think lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism should be considered grounds to exclude couples from adopting children. Meat can be just as unhealthy as vegetables. They should just ask the parents what they intend to feed the child.
 
I don't think it's fair for them to assume that vegetarianism is an unhealthy lifestyle. I've only been vegetarian for the past 4 years, and I'm the healthiest I've ever been. And it's not like you sit there eating soybeans and hummus all day; there are different subcategories of vegetarian, but the category I'd fall into still eats dairy including eggs, all fruits, all vegetables, most desserts, many different kinds of pasta, etc. And then the various meat substitutes they have now, which some of them suck ass but most of them are pretty good (not to mention you don't ever have to bite into another $*(!*)#!)$*&#$#&* piece of gristle or blob of fat ever again, or worry about tiny hidden bones in your fish etc). Meanwhile when I was eating half a plate full of meat every day for dinner, plus some sort of meat at lunch and sometimes at breakfast, coupled with everything else I ate, I was probably taking in about 3000 calories a day, which is quite high for an inactive person. And yes there are plenty of vegetarians who don't pay attention to their nutrition and end up getting sick, but that's just because they don't pay attention. It's no different than someone eating fast food burgers every day; you still have to watch what you eat whether you eat meat or not.

I think a good alternative, if the adoption centers are concerned, would be to require periodic health checkups for the children to ensure that they're getting the proper nutrition. Because even if the adults were perfectly health vegetarians, they might not know how to adapt a vegetarian diet to a growing child's needs, so they could still screw up if they did that. However they shouldn't only require that for vegetarian couples' children, but for everyone, if they ever put such a plan into action.
 
I personally believe that this problem could simply be fixed with regular, spontaneous nutrition checks to make sure their kid is getting the right food. I mean most of the stuff you can get from red meat can be obtained from dark green veg, dairy, and even fish (unless they exclude that too)

I do think that this exclusion shows vegetarians in a negative light, and puts a kind of prejudice on them as well. All they need to do is get a nutrition check a coupla times a year to make sure the kid is getting the right vitamins and minerals. Complete exclusion seems unnecessary, prejudiced, and downright lazy, really. I just hope they sort it out in a way other than "Lolol you no can has kid," because there'll be a total media shitstorm for the whole adoption system if they don't sort this out properly.
 
It's like that whole "if homosexual couples adopt then the child will be homosexual" argument. Which, depending on your stance on homosexuality, matters greatly or doesn't matter at all.

I dunno if all children are influenced by their parents, but I know I was. That's not to say I haven't developed my own opinion and I have my own sense of self now, but for a while my parents were my source of knowledge, reason, and right and wrong. I bet the child would be influenced by its parents.

Omega 3 fatty acids, which are the good fats in fish, are needed by the body and most people do not get enough. Just about anyone can go without eating red meat ever, but lean meat like chicken, turkey, venison, and fish are essential parts of anyone's diets, due to the proteins and fats. You COULD eat nuts and take some supplements to counteract the absence of meat, but it's less than ideal.

I don't know. I eat meat, and I enjoy eating meat, but I've wanted to switch to a more vegetable/nuts-based diet for a while now. Lately I've tried to avoid beef entirely and eat only grilled/baked chicken, fish, and turkey. You can get all the essential nutrients you need by eating a diverse diet filled with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and fish. As long as they included fish in the diet at least once a week, there wouldn't really be a problem.

Also, if the child wanted to eat more meat, it would be wrong of them to stop him.
 
Vegetarianism being forced upon young children in my opinion is really ridiculous.

First, I don't have anything against adults whom are vegetarians...we all have a right to eat what we please as adults. Adults are to know that when they are vegetarians they still need degrees of protein and calcium from other sources of food...by supplements or green leafy vegetables...toffu or whatever.

If an adult were to self-impose their vegetarian life-style on a young child is where I draw the line though. I would understand showing them their lifestyle while still allowing the child to make their own meal choices. Children are too young to know how to fill in the nutritional gaps that are left in their diets with vegetarianism. They are already picky enough about what they'll eat and now someone forcing their vegetarianism only lifestyle on them might very likely leave them deficient of many of the vitamins and minerals that their bodies particularly need at a time of rapid growth...especially calcium.

If this adoptive couple admits that they plan on forcing their vegatarian lifestyle on a possible adoptive child then I don't particularly agree that they would be the best adoptive parents out there. When you are a parent its about putting your biases and preferences on hold to do what is best for your child...and making sure that they grow up strong and healthy is one of them. If they decided they want to participate in vegatarianism later in life thats fine...but it shouldn't be forced on children when they are young.
 
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Growing up without ever eating a bacon sandwich would be pretty shit tbh although they dont have proper bacon in greece anyway.
Your parents are gunna decide what you eat whether theyre vegetarian or not. REfusing a child a possible good home over something like this is stupid.
Now poor timmy samaras has to spend another year in the orphanage.
 
Sure, I can see their point a little, but shouldn't the child have a choice
It's not that easy in practice. If you've been brought up to a certain age with your sole role models imposing their beliefs then it's quite difficult to change that behaviour. It's quite difficult to find someone who doesn't demonstrate qualities shown by their mum or dad.

I have an uncountable number of customers coming in to my store and buying vitamins for their children in prams or young children. The reason for this can only be that they are undernourished (note: note malnourished) and so are supplementing the missed out foods with vitamins (which, I must stress, from a retail point of view "should not replace a balanced and healthy diet". The vitamins/minerals/amino acids etc in the vitamins are things they'd get from a well-rounded diet, which they're not getting for whatever reason. Not making a point about vegetarians here, just that the parents beliefs ARE influencing the child.
Growing up without ever eating a bacon sandwich would be pretty shit tbh
:lew:

Never heard of anything like this before (minus the pub quiz this week where we came in 2nd thanks to THIS question being right) so I doubt it's a worldwide revolution.
 
It's not that bad actually, growing up never knowing what bacon tastes like. Cause you don't know what you're missing in the first place, so it's pretty.. eh.
 
how is this any different from a parent passing their eating habits on to their offspring?

what about those people you see pushing toddlers about with macdonalds, feeding babies fucking chips. Oh its soft, s/he likes them, they can suck on them

GIVE THEM A BANANA THEN

Im not a vegetarian, but I dont really eat all that much meat, I like it, I just dont feel like I need it all the time, whereas some people feel the need to have it daily. Everyones eating habits are massively different, so to stop a couple adopting for that reason is absured

I could understand if looking on the potential parents eating habits contained nothing but microwave meals and takeaways, but fucking hell, you can lead a perfectly healthy life style on a vegetarian lifestyle

Edit* Before I started drinking :-)wacky:) aside from the odd migraine, i NEVER got ill and i dont think my diet growing up was ever as varied as it should be

But lets be honest, are most peoples? can everyone honestly say they/folk they know get the recomended intake of daily shit they need, 5 portions of fruit and veg and whatever the shit else you need from meat and other such bollockery?
 
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