Research on Vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is a popular choice for many individuals and families. But parents may wonder if kids can safely follow a vegetarian diet and still get all necessary nutrients.

Vegetarianism

Research on Vegetarianism!

Issue 1

So what is a vegetarian?

Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes meat (including game and slaughter by products), fish (including shellfish and other sea animals) and poultry. There are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude eggs or some products produced from other animal labour such as dairy products and honey. The reasons for an adolescent choosing vegetarianism may be related to morality, religion, culture, environment, society, taste, or health. Recent studies show that a record breaking 3 million people in the UK alone have become vegetarians since 1995.

What Foods can a vegetarian eat?

Vegetarians can basically eat anything that is not meat. In some cases some vegetarians will not eat anything that animal products are used to make other products, Such as milk and Butter. Vegetarians can food such as, potatoes, stir-fry’s, pasta dishes and many more.

Children & Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism is a popular choice for many individuals and families. But parents may wonder if kids can safely follow a vegetarian diet and still get all necessary nutrients. Most dietary and medical experts agree that a well-planned vegetarian diet can actually be a very healthy way to eat. But special care must be taken when serving kids and teens a vegetarian diet, especially if it doesn't include dairy and egg products. And as with any diet, you'll need to understand that the nutritional needs of kids change as they grow.

Types of vegetarians!

Many people do not realize or understand that there are different types of vegetarians. Each individual vegetarian has his or her own personal reasons for choosing their diet, and these reasons determine exactly on what foods they eliminate. I have researched the following information on the different types of vegetarian's. The link I used for the following types of vegetarians was, “www.msu.edu/user/daenzerr/rd491/types.htm”

Vegans: vegans not only omit all animal products from their diets, but they also eliminate all milk and dairy products. They eat only plant food. They eat no flesh, no eggs and no dairy products. Some will eat honey but not others.

Lacto-Vegetarians: Lacto-Vegetarians will include dairy products into their diet or plant food. They eat no flesh of any kind. Their diet consists of fruit and vegetables and dairy products(vegetarian cheese only)

Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarians: Lacto-ovo-vegetarians eat both eggs and dairy products. but does not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind

Pesco-Vegetarians: pesco-Vegetarians will include fish into their diets along with their plant foods. They will eat no red meat of any kind.

Pollo-Vegetarians: Pollo-Vegetarians will occasionally eat poultry, such as chicken, turkey, and duck but will not eat red meat. They will also eat dairy products.

Interview

I was asked to interview two different vegetarian adolescents from my school or else outside of school. I chose one boy and one girl for my interviews. The girl was aged 15-17 years old and the boy was 17 years old. The very first question that I had asked these two young adolescents was, “what type of vegetarian are you?” both of them explained to me that they were “lacto-vegetarians”. As you can see from my research above, it explains that lacto-vegetarians never eat meat but they will eat dairy products. Their diet would usually consist of fruit and vegetables. I think that a lacto-vegetarians diet would be the healthiest choice and the most common choice for an adolescent.

Issue 2

Benefits of being a vegetarian!

During my research I have found out that vegetarians are generally healthier people. The website I used to get the following information was:

These are the healthy characteristic's I found that a vegetarian could potentially have:

Leanness
Lower blood pressure
lower cholesterol
less chance of becoming Obese
And less chance of developing cancer.

But why is this? Is it because of the food their eating or is it something else? No, it’s basically because a healthy vegetarian diet is typically low in fat and high in fibre. However, even a vegetarian diet can be high in fat if it includes excessive amounts of fatty snack foods, fried foods, whole milk dairy products, and eggs. Therefore, a vegetarian diet, like any healthy diet, must be well planned in order to help prevent and treat certain diseases.

The following table shows the healthy characteristic's I found that a vegetarian could potentially have:

This is a preview of the whole essay

The following table shows the healthy characteristic's I found that a vegetarian could potentially have:

As you can see from the table vegetarians would tend to be healthier than non vegetarians For example, “leanness”. Leanness would be a definition of having a sense of fullness after eating. This would be because of the nutrients vegetarians would take in. Their diet would fill them up much more than a non-vegans diet. “Leanness” could lead to healthy characteristics such as a good muscle tone and being a healthy weight. People who tend to be more “lean” than others tend to be able to lose weight much faster. Another healthy characteristic from this table would be “lower cholesterol”. Low cholesterol in the body is a very healthy sign of a person. Low cholesterol can lead to having less chance of developing Heart disease or dyeing of a heart attack. High cholesterol is caused by having a diet that is high in saturated fats. High cholesterol would be found in food that comes from animals such as meat, poultry, fish, seafood and dairy products, especially egg yolks.

Issue 3

Risks of being a vegetarian

For this issue I also used this website for my research:

During my research I found out that the main health risks for a person being a vegetarian was lack of protein and minerals such as iron and calcium. I found out that minerals can be found in green leafy vegetables, grains, nuts, and fortified juices or soy-milk. You can also eat vegetarian foods with proteins such as meat substitutes, legumes, lentils, nuts and seeds. But what would happen if you did not like any of these products or even if you had an allergic reaction to them?

The following table that I have designed describes how a vegetarian diet might not be as healthy as you think for an adolescent. After all adolescents need as much vitamins and minerals as they can get to ensure a healthy growing body.

As you can see, vegetarians can be at risk of illnesses too. So basically, becoming a vegetarian can have its side effects. But how can adolescent vegetarians prevent these illnesses from happening? Well vegetarians could start by eating meat substitutes such as soya, tofu and Quorn. But if vegans eat these foods they will have to have a source of Vitamin C to absorb the Iron.

Results from my surveys!

During my survey on vegetarians I had noticed that the majority of them had only been vegetarians for a few months if not a few years, but one person had been brought up a vegetarian. I was also quite surprised to see that the majority of adolescents became vegetarians because of animal welfare. Some people also became vegetarians because they did not like the taste of meat. I had also noticed that the school canteens would provide vegetarian meals such as vegetable pizza, fruit risottos, pasta dishes, vegetable soup and vegetarian curry's. But some people commented, “Yes the school canteen may provide some vegetarian dishes, but there is a very limited choice for me to choose from”.

The following graphs will describe to you in detail about the results I got from my participants during my survey:

As you can see from my results, there was more female than male adolescent vegetarians in my school. I think that the reason for this is because females are more likely to be influenced by female celebrities becoming vegetarians than males following the paths of male celebrities. One of the females aged 15-17 years of age that took my survey had even quoted, “the reason I became a vegetarian is because a lot of celebrities are becoming vegetarians now a day’s”. I also think that the reason for there being fewer males than females is because being a vegetarian may not be a trend that boys would go for. Some boys may be scared in-case their friends might laugh at them for becoming a vegetarian. He may not fit in with the crowd at dinner time, whereas girls may just accept the fact that they have a vegetarian friend.

Conclusion

As you can see from the bar chart, people seem to prefer freshly made meals than readymade meals. But why is this? I think that the reason behind these adolescents choosing freshly made meals is because readymade meals would contain preservatives, for example, sugar, salt and other additives. Or maybe it’s because freshly made meals are always going to be literally “fresh!”

Conclusion

As you can see from the information above most people had become vegetarians because of animal welfare. I think the reason for this is because adolescents may have watched certain programmes to do with animals getting slaughtered and adolescents may find it wrong to eat these animals. I was very surprised to even see the category “Brought up a vegetarian” in my answers because not many young children would stick to a strict vegetarian diet for their whole life. Even up to the age of 18 years of age.

Conclusion

As you can see from the following results, there was more people aged 15-17 than there was in any other age group. I think the reason for this is because of the maturity levels that this age group may have. It may also be a trend that certain friends may have. Or maybe could it be that adolescents at the age of 15-17 think a lot more about their health and fitness. This could be why they become vegetarians. There wasn’t really much of a reason why I chose so many people of this age group. When I was getting people to do my surveys I tried to get people that I have never met before.

Conclusion

As you can see from the following results more adolescents found that the biggest health benefit to them to do with vegetarianism was less fat in-take. I was quite surprised at these results because I would have thought that “more energy” would have been more important to growing adolescent than less fat intake because of the ongoing sport they would do during their young lives.

Results on my interview with 2 adolescents!

For my interview I talked to a vegetarian adolescent from the age group of 15-17 years of age. Her reason for becoming a vegetarian was nothing to do with the taste of meat or because of her religion it was all mainly to do with “animal welfare”. Animal welfare is all to do with the protection of animals and making sure that animals get the rights they deserve. She explained to me briefly that she was sometimes scared in-case vegetarianism could be bad for her health. Her main reason for this was because of the lack of nutrients her body might be getting. For example, iron deficiency, which may lead to anaemia. The next question I asked her was, “Do you feel that vegetarians are catered for in your school canteen”. I was quite surprised to hear that her school canteen could “do better”. I always thought that school canteens would have provided healthy eating days and could caterer for vegetarian pupils. The next question I asked her was about her family. I asked her if she was the only vegetarian in her family. She was keen to tell me that she was the only vegetarian in her family and that sometimes she felt left out because her mother has to prepare different individual meals for her.

For my next interview I got the chance to interview a male 17 year old boy from my school. He had been a vegetarian for 5 years so he knows a good bit about vegetarianism. He was keen to talk to me about the reason behind him becoming a vegetarian. I was quite astonished to hear that the reason for him becoming a vegetarian was just because he fancied a change in his diet. “It started off with hating my diet”. He explained to me that when he eats meat he gets bad heart burn and was just getting fed up of going through the pain after every meal. His mum had advised him to stop eating meat for just a month and try vegetarianism out. But when he began to stop eating meat he felt a lot better and decided to become a full vegetarian. Ever since this he has never suffered from heart burn and his nutritional health has become a lot better. I then asked him if our school canteen had catered for vegetarians and if so, was it beneficial to him? He explained to me that the school canteen was “useless” for providing vegetarian snacks and main courses. Instead he goes to a local shop at dinner time and buys a readymade vegetarian role. Like wise to my other interview he was also the only vegetarian in his family. In fact, none of his friends were vegetarians either. He didn’t find it embarrassing at dinner time when his friends were eating maybe a Chinese or burgers. This was because he knew that if he went back to eating meat he would have to suffer for it.

Overall conclusion

So far throughout this piece of coursework I have learnt all about vegetarianism. The three main issues I have chosen to research are, the main types of vegetarians, the benefits of being a vegetarian and the reasons behind people becoming vegetarians. There are five main types of vegetarians, Vegans, Lacto vegetarians, Lacto-ovo vegetarians, pesco vegetarians and pollo vegetarians – Vegans eliminate all meat products and anything that an animal produces for example milk and other dairy products. A Lacto vegetarian’s diet will consist of fruit and vegetables and dairy products but they will not eat any flesh of any kind. Lacto-ovo vegetarians will eat dairy products but will not eat any meat or fish of any kind. Pesco-vegetarians will eat fish and dairy products but will not eat any red meat of any kind. Finally, pollo vegetarians will eat dairy products, chicken and poultry but will not eat red meat.

For my second issue I had to research the benefits of being a Vegetarian. During my research I have found out that Vegetarians are generally healthier people. There were four main Benefits that I researched, leanness, Lower blood pressure, Lower cholesterol and less chance of developing cancer. Leanness is all about being physically active and having a feeling of fullness after every meal. Vegetarians tend to have this because of the high nutrient levels in their diet. Vegetarians tend to have a Lower blood pressure because their diet is low in fat. But since some vegetarians would eat and drink dairy products their blood pressure could rise due to high cholesterol. But this can only happen if they drink whole fat milk. Vegetarians could have lower cholesterol due to drinking low fat milk or even not drinking or eating any dairy products at all. Finally, vegetarians can have less chance of developing cancer because recent studies show that people who eat a high content of fat could develop a certain type of cancer.

And finally the last issue I chose to research was the risks of being a vegetarian. During my research I found out that vegetarians can be at risk of developing different diseases due to lack of minerals such as iron, protein and calcium. The main types of Diseases I chose to research were Osteoporosis, Rickets, and Iron-deficiency and slowed down growth. Vegetarians can have a high risk of developing osteoporosis because of the lack of dairy produce in their body. Well that all depends on what type of vegetarian they are. If they were a strict vegan they would be in trouble because strict vegans do not eat any dairy products of any kind. Their bones could become brittle and very easily broken. Young adolescent can develop rickets through to lack of vitamin D or lack of calcium. But Vegan children can get vitamin D by sitting in the sun or taking Vitamin D supplements. Iron-deficiency can be particularly common in vegetarians because of them not eating red meat. Iron is needed the haemoglobin in the blood. Vegetarians can tend to become tired in week when they are low in iron. This can lead to anaemia. Finally, the last illness I researched was slowed down growth. Young adolescent Vegetarians can suffer from slow growth because again of their lack of calcium. The reason for this is because calcium is needed for the growth and strengthening of bones. Vegetarians find it hard to get calcium because some strict vegetarians cut dairy produce from their diet.

From all these issues I learnt that there was more than just one type of vegetarian and I would never have thought that there could be risks involved with being a vegetarian. I always thought that being a vegetarian was a very healthy choice for an adolescent could make. The most surprising thing I saw from my surveys was that 64% of adolescents became vegetarians because of animal warfare. I always thought that adolescents became vegetarians because they may not have liked the taste or maybe because it was a particular trend.

Evaluation

This piece of coursework was definitely one of my favourite pieces of work throughout all my subjects. The reason for this is because of the independence of having to pick your own topic and research it yourself without any help. It’s just something different from every other subject. I really enjoyed learning about vegetarianism and learning about the benefits, risks and different types of vegetarians. My favourite part of the coursework was seeing it all coming together and having it finalised and finished. The thing that I disliked the most about this coursework was the fact that I had to read so much writing in order to get what I was looking for. If I was to change anything about the way I done this coursework I would give out more surveys to give me more reliable statistics and would interview a few more people with better questions and more detailed questions. This would leave me with more detailed answers. If I had to re-do this coursework again I would definitely spend more time preparing it before I actually started researching and typing up. I would also research a more variety of websites and get more information on the benefits and risks of being a vegetarian.

I think the most useful resource that I used as definitely the internet. I used two particular websites for all three of my issues. The most informative website was . This website gave me loads of information on the benefits of being a vegetarian and also the risks of being a vegetarian. This website also offers:

Dietary guidelines

A food guide pyramid

Meal planning

Sports nutrition

And Vegetarian supplements