Plant-based drinks shouldn’t be main beverage for young kids: experts
Canada’s dietitians and pediatricians are discouraging parents from relying on plant-based drinks — such as rice, coconut and almond milks — as the main beverage for babies and young kids.
Dr. Catherine Pound of the Canadian Paediatric Society said Wednesday that some plant-based beverages are not fortified with any minerals or vitamins and often contain sugar as the second ingredient after water.
“There’s a bit of a push from the health movement where people think or feel that plant-based nutrition is better than meat-based nutrition, which may be true in adulthood where we are recommending to move away from eating meat very frequently, but the same doesn’t hold true for children who need the protein,” says Pound.
“We see parents that are well-intentioned that are moving to a plant-based beverage for their children thinking they are doing a good thing while actually they are withholding important nutrients and proteins.”