# Family dietary pattern

**Should our child follow a vegetarian, vegan or other family diet?**

The overall way your family eats: omnivore, mostly vegetarian with some meat, vegetarian, or vegan.

In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Omnivore; Flexitarian; Vegetarian; Vegan with supplements and dietitian support. Evidence: experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. Best settled: 6–12 months.

- Area: Food and eating
- Evidence: Experts disagree
- Best settled: 6–12 months
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/food-and-eating--family-dietary-pattern

## Family dietary pattern: what are the options?

1. **Omnivore**: Your family eats meat, fish, dairy and plants.
2. **Flexitarian**: Your family eats mostly plants and some meat.
3. **Vegetarian**: Your family eats no meat or fish.
4. **Vegan with supplements and dietitian support**: Your family eats no animal products, with supplements and professional advice.

## Family dietary pattern: what does the evidence say?

**Experts disagree.** Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. (Contested between national bodies)

Canada's pediatric society accepts well-planned vegan diets; Germany's nutrition society advises against them for children

Sources:

- [CPS](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/history/vegan-nutrition-history/253-canadian-paediatric-society-community-paediatrics-committee/file.html)
- [DGE](https://www.dge.de/fileadmin/dok/wissenschaft/positionen/64_72_Sonderheft_2020_DGE_Vegane_Position_eng.pdf)

## What else is worth knowing?

A family's way of eating reflects health, ethics, culture and budget. Vegetarian and vegan diets can meet a child's needs with planning and, for vegan diets, supplements. It helps to decide what you would do if your child wants to eat differently from you.

## Questions to ask each other

- What does our family eat now, and do we want to change it for a child?
- How would we handle a child who wants to eat differently from us?
- Would we ever raise a child vegetarian or vegan, and how would we make sure they get what they need?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=food-and-eating&topic=food-and-eating--family-dietary-pattern