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Teenage vegetarians on the rise
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A recent survey by Teenage Research Unlimited found that 35 percent of girls and 18 percent of boys thought being vegetarian was “in”. In another survey, 37 percent of teens said that they try to avoid red meat – 50 percent higher than people a generation older.
Concern for animals is the leading reasons teens and kids give up meat. Because animal rights groups have made children a prime target. Some teenagers think that eating meat is "totally gross".
A group called Animalearn, for instance, made presentations on “alternative diets” to some 20,000 young people in 1994. Another group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), sends “Chris P Carrot”, a 7ft tall dancing mascot, to elementary schools and hands out buttons reading: Eat Your Veggies, Not your Friends.
Naturally, parents are not too excited about having teenage vegetarian kids. Even Britain’s Prince Charles. When his son, Prince Harry, 10, announced in July 1995 that he would no longer eat meat, Charles promptly ordered the palace chefs to prepare slabs of bacon for his son’s breakfast.
Most parents are concerned about nutrition for their vegetarian kids. Their biggest fear is about protein, but Newsweek assures that is not a problem. However, adequate nutrition is a serious consideration because teenage vegetarians, like others, still enjoy junk food.
Teenage vegetarians on junk foods might eat:
A healthy 13-year-old vegetarian might eat.
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