20/04/2026
🥦 One of the most persistent fears about raising children on a vegan diet is that it will stunt their growth. The largest study ever conducted on this question has now provided a clear answer.
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev analysed nearly 1.2 million infants drawn from ten years of Israeli national health records, covering roughly 70% of the country's child population. They tracked weight, height, and head circumference from birth through 24 months across vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous families.
By age two, the growth trajectories of all three groups were virtually identical. The average differences in measurements were smaller than 0.2 on the WHO z-score scale, considered clinically insignificant. Stunting rates were 3.1% in omnivores, 3.4% in vegetarians, and 3.9% in vegans, with no statistically significant difference between groups.
The one exception was the first 60 days of life, when vegan babies were slightly more likely to be underweight, largely attributed to vegan mothers tending to have lower pre-pregnancy BMI. This gap had closed entirely by 24 months.
Researchers stressed this applies to well-planned plant-based diets in developed countries. Vitamin B12, calcium, iodine, and zinc still require close attention and supplementation.
📄 RESEARCH PAPER
📌 Avital et al, "Growth Trajectories in Infants From Families With Plant-Based or Omnivorous Dietary Patterns", JAMA Network Open (2026)
