A baby kept on a vegan diet died. His parents have been arrested on a manslaughter charge.

[Omaha Steve]

By Deanna Paul / The Washington Post

The parents of an 18-month-old boy who died in September from malnourishment have been arrested by Florida police on charges of manslaughter and child neglect.

On Sept. 27, around 4 a.m., Sheila O'Leary nursed the child briefly and, she told authorities, became worried when he began breathing shallowly, the Florida Fort Myers News-Press reported. Rather than call for help, though, the O'Learys went to sleep.

The paramedics who responded to a 911 call later that day pronounced the boy dead at the Cape Coral, Florida, home; he weighed just 17 pounds when he died, according to police reports, significantly under the average weight for a child his age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sheila and Ryan O'Leary told investigators that the vegan family only eats fruit, vegetables and raw foods, such as mangoes, rambutans, bananas and avocados, according to the News-Press. The parents supplemented the toddler's diet with breast milk.

FULL story: https://www.omaha.com/news/trending/a-baby-kept-on-a-vegan-diet-died-his-parents/article_dddb8be4-c3de-52a2-980e-d4b74872ee8e.html

[TexasBushwhacker]

1. Dupe

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212724320

[Kurt V.]

2. it wasn't the vegan diet. That's for sure.

[csziggy]

3. Their diet seems low in proteins for any human, much less a baby

From the OP: "the vegan family only eats fruit, vegetables and raw foods, such as mangoes, rambutans, bananas and avocados."

That diet would not provide appropriate nutrients for a growing child - but then, this child was not growing.

A vegan diet can be nutritious, but this diet was not.

[mucifer]

5. Yeah, it's neglect. If a vegan diet killed babies and toddlers regularly you would hear about it all

the time. Lots of people these days raise their kids with breast milk vegan food and vitamins. There are plenty of adults who have been vegan since birth.

[Voltaire2]

7. The article is speculative bullshit.

Vegan diets are healthy. In fact they are significantly healthier than meat based diets. The family was obviously in trouble and unable to care for their children.

The only potential issue for vegan diets is b-12, and lots of non-vegan people are b-12 deficient. Vegan b-12 supplements are readily available.

[csziggy]

9. The part I cited was a information from the parents

In addition, in the article linked in the OP states:

"The couple turned themselves in to authorities on Nov. 6, after the medical examiner's office released its autopsy findings: the cause of death was malnutrition and complications, including dehydration, microsteatosis of liver, and swollen hands, feet and lower legs."

Also:
"The O'Learys have two other children together, ages 3 and 5, whom police saw at their residence in September. One had blackened and decaying teeth, the News-Press reported, at both were extremely malnourished, weighing under the third percentile for their age groups."

Yes, the family was in trouble, and a normal vegan diet is not what is to blame. Ignorance and improper foods for a nutritious diet are most likely the root cause.

If you actually read my message you responded to, I am NOT blaming a normal vegan diet - which can be completely satisfactory to live on. Far too many people in the world know nothing about proper nutrition whether they eat a diet that includes meats, or eat a vegetarian or vegan diet. Children are most vulnerable if ignorant parents do not know what are the right things to make sure the diet is complete and nutritious.

[Dorian Gray]

15. It sounds like

the parents had extreme food phobia, they claimed a "vegan" diet, but what they were really doing is severe restriction.

How does one let a child's teeth be blackened like that and not seek medical help? How does one allow an infant child to not grow and not seek help?

Obviously Orthorexia. (Obsession with eating "pure" foods. And putting this type of obsession on their children. It's horrifying. Those poor kids.)

[Blue_true]

11. BS.

Except for the breast milk, the baby got inadequate proteins. I really hate it when parents are such fucking zealots that they endanger their kids' lives.

[Kurt V.]

13. i mean to say that's not a real vegan diet. your right, its terrible.

[Grasswire2]

4. Did they never see a pediatrician? nt

[SCantiGOP]

8. I heard earlier

That the child had never seen a doctor.

[Ferrets are Cool]

6. Seems to be a VERY misleading headline to me...

Not pointing fingers at the OP, but rather the article.

[CousinIT]

10. The headline is misleading. A good vegan diet would not kill a child.

But standard malnutrition and neglect will. The headline is clickbait. Jesus Christ.

[Binkie The Clown]

12. I'm a strict vegan but...

I supplement my diet with one or two cheeseburgers a month and and, of course, the obligatory corn dogs, biscuits and gravy, cheese omelets and the occasional trip to Taco Bell or Arbys'. But outside of that, I'm a strict vegan.

[RandiFan1290]

14. Not a 'vegan diet' They starved the kid

Bullshit clickbait headline.