A large-scale study in Israel has found that toddlers from vegan and vegetarian families grow at similar rates to those from omnivorous households by age two, despite slight early differences. Researchers analyzed data from 1.2 million children born between 2014 and 2023. The findings suggest well-planned plant-based diets can support healthy early development.
Babies born into vegan or vegetarian families may start off slightly underweight in their first months, but they tend to catch up to their peers by around two years old, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open.
Kerem Avital at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and her team examined records from national family care centers on 1.2 million infants' length, weight, and head circumference from birth to 24 months. Parents reported their diets when the babies were about six months old: the vast majority were omnivorous, with 1.2 percent vegetarian and 0.3 percent vegan households, totaling around 18,000 children in meat-free families.
In the first 60 days, growth measures were comparable across groups. However, vegan infants were slightly more likely to be underweight, while overweight cases were rarer in vegetarian and vegan homes. By age two, these disparities had largely disappeared, with no statistically significant differences in restricted growth, even after adjusting for factors like income, maternal age, and breastfeeding.
"The results are quite heartening," says Tomer Avnon at Tel Aviv University, who was not involved in the research. "It is deeply reassuring to see large-scale data confirming that children of vegetarian and vegan mothers can expect a healthy developmental future."
The study aligns with observations that small-for-gestational-age babies often catch up later. Yet, Avnon notes limitations, including self-reported diets that may lack precision on daily nutrition, which is crucial for long-term health.
Zulfiqar Bhutta at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto cautions that small growth differences could matter over time, citing links between vegan diets and lower bone mineral density or micronutrient levels. He advises against assuming plant-based diets are always suitable, particularly in regions with malnutrition risks. Avital suggests the results likely extend to similar high-income countries with good healthcare, like the UK, and calls for more detailed studies on diet and parental factors.
