A toddler has been taken away from his parents after being found malnourished from a strictly vegan diet.
The 14-month-old Italian boy is recovering after his parents reportedly fed him a vegan diet that left him dramatically underweight.
According to Britain’s Telegraph, the boy weighed little more than a newborn, and was barely surviving on the diet his parents provided.
Italian authorities have now removed the child from the parent’s custody.
Luca Bernardo, director of paediatrics at the Milan hospital treating the boy, said: “It is not a problem to choose different or unusual kinds of nutrition…But since birth, the baby should have had support in this case with calcium and iron.”
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The child was dramatically malnourished
The extremely low calcium levels in the boy caused him to suffer a heart condition which led to emergency surgery.
In Italy, 2.8 per cent of the population are vegan – with four other Italian children being hospitalised in the past 18 months for malnutrition.
Authorities are now deciding whether or not to grant the grandparents custody of the child.
Related: Alicia Silverstone talks about her son’s vegan diet:
