Does growing up vegan stunt your growth?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-02-06 03:00

International

CC:0. Story by Ben Kaldi, Australian Science Media Centre

Israeli researchers say kids growing up in a vegan household show almost no difference to their omnivorous peers when it comes to their growth. The team looked into the weight status, stunting rates and growth trajectories of close to 1.2 million kids, and other than infants from vegan households being modestly more likely to be underweight and/or stunted in their first years of life, by the time they got to two years old these differences diminished.

News release

From: JAMA

Growth Trajectories in Infants From Families With Plant-Based or Omnivorous Dietary Patterns

About The Study: In this cohort study, infants from vegan households had growth patterns similar to those from omnivorous households, with a higher odds of early underweight that decreased by age 24 months. In the context of developed countries, these findings seem reassuring. Further research should examine vegan diet quality and the impact of nutritional counseling during pregnancy and infancy in supporting optimal infant development.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Funder: No information provided.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.