I've been catching up on posts at Vegan.com and just came across one with a familiar name in it: Keri Gans.As spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, she was recently quoted in a New York Daily News story about how veganism may be bad for kids.
"You can meet a child's nutritional needs with a vegan diet, but it is very difficult," says Keri Gans, RD, MS, CDN, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "When you take away dairy food, you have to worry about how the child will get calcium and vitamin D."Evidently Gans has never glanced at the nutritional label for orange juice or soymilk. Plenty of calcium.
And while it's possible to ensure that a child gets these nutrients from other sources, it's hard - unless your kid absolutely loves vegetables. To get the calcium in one cup of milk, a child would need to consume four cups of broccoli, Gans points out.
Erik Marcus of Vegan.com wondered if Gans was perhaps misquoted. He's being too kind.
Gans first came on my radar in 2008 when, as the president of the New York State Dietetic Association, she wrote a letter to the editor of AuburnPub.com. The headline is "Yes, dairy does have a place in a healthy diet."
As president of the New York State Dietetic Association, an organization advocating science-based nutrition research, I'd like to suggest to your readers to be cautious about following advice that requires eliminating whole categories of food from their diets.Gans is clearly still biased against veganism despite the ADA's 2009 position on vegetarian and vegan diets.
[...]
In contrast, dairy's role in a healthy diet has long been established by the nutrition and science community, including the National Osteoporosis Foundation, the Surgeon General, and the National Institutes of Health.
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines recognize that people who eat dairy foods have better overall diets, consume more nutrients and have improved bone health.
When it comes to nutrition information, people should listen to health and nutritional professionals, not animal rights-activists.
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.The ADA position goes on to list the many health benefits of a plant-based diet.
Gans isn't the only dietitian who has touted the benefits of dairy. Barbara Baron was president of the New York State Dietetic Association from 2006-2007. In 2007 she worked for the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council, Inc.
Fortunately not all dietitians turn a blind eye to the facts. For the scoop on veganism and health, check out registered dietitian Ginny Messina's blog at Examiner.com.
(Image courtesy of VegParadise.com.)
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We contacted the ADA in regards to the NY Daily News Piece, this is what she had to say:
"Thank you for contacting the ADA with your concerns regarding the article in the New York Daily News. I have spoken to Keri Gans about her interview with the paper and feel confident that she relayed all of the information in our position paper to the reporter. It was an extensive interview and unfortunately only a few quotes were included in the final piece and the ones that were selected made it sound like she was trying to keep people from trying a vegan diet. She said the majority of her comments focused on the need for a ‘well-planned’ diet and incorporating the help of a registered dietitian or other health care practitioner to navigate the various ways that the proper nutrients could be incorporated into the diet. She said this quote is more indicative of the information she was communicating throughout the interview:
‘If the family knows what they are doing, works with a professional and gets the proper supplements, the needs could be met.’
However, we do not get the final say in the finished product or the title for the piece and it ended up having a more negative slant than we would have liked to see."
Please see more at: http://www.yourdailyvegan.com/2010/05/03/vegan-haters-strike-again/
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