Vegetarianism Is Child Abuse?

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I have nothing personally against vegetarians–I lived with a vegan girlfriend for 4 years and one of my sisters is a vegetarian.

However, it does seem that the human gut evolved to digest meat. New research by nutritionist Lindsay Allen of the University of California at Davis supports this view and finds:

Meat is a vital part of a child's diet, according to a two-year study of Kenyan schoolkids. Without it, children grow up smaller, less strong and less intelligent…Children in the meat-supplemented group showed up to an 80% greater increase in upper-arm muscle compared with the non-supplemented children; for milk drinkers, this figure was 40%.

Kids who were fed meat also outperformed their peers in tests of intelligence, problem solving and arithmetic. "The group that received the meat supplements were more active in the playground, more talkative and playful, and showed more leadership skills," Allen said.

Allen's study turns the usual vegetarian claim to moral superiority on its head when he concludes that bringing up children as vegans is unethical.