MAILBAG - April 8, 2007

Strict vegan diets pose risks to teenagers

Where have all the meat eaters gone? Are they buried among the dead flowers, children and soldiers of long, long ago?

“Students polish off vegan plates,” (April 2) gave me the shudders, and I cannot believe the Daily Pilot published an article supporting such a restrictive diet for our school children, thereby putting them at serious health risks. As both a mother and school worker, I am appalled.

I work in the library at Estancia High School. I understand the passion of people wanting to respect animal rights, but this woman, Karen Coyne, has taken the matter far, far to the extreme for our teenagers. Why, you may ask? Isn’t it nice to respect animal rights?

I wouldn’t have a problem if she endorsed vegetarianism. That’s fine, and I myself would love to have more veggie-related plates in our own cafeteria — but veganism? That is a very different issue.

Vegans, even as adults, have a very hard time giving themselves the proper nutrition. Without balanced (and often expensive) supplements, true vegans are “frequently deficient in calcium, iron, vitamin D, selenium, phosphorous, and zinc,” and without a high amount of vitamin B12, which does not exist in any meaningful amount of vegetarian foods. Vegans, particularly teens and children, are at risk for “serious health consequences … and when severe, B12 deficiency can cause irreversible nerve damage. Mild deficiency leads to anemia and, in association with other common deficiencies, increased risk of bone thinning and fracture.” (Source: www.csmedcenter.com/Health ToolsAndContent/Article.aspx ?chunkiid=165206.)

There are more articles and journals out there. Feel free to surf the net — just look for “vegans” and “malnutrition.” Or how about “veganism” and “health risks in children”? Do it. See what you find. You may be shocked.

How about this quote from professor Lindsay Allen, U.S. Agricultural Research Service, “There’s absolutely no question that it’s unethical for parents to bring up their children as strict vegans,” she told the annual meeting of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science. Please see the article at https://news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/health/4282257.stm.

You may not agree with me. That’s fine. But consider the consequences.

Humor me — check the Web, books and with your doctor. Isn’t your teen’s health worth it? And if you find that there are indeed serious risks associated with strict vegan diets without supplementation, I hope you agree that the article was shameful to print and could lead to unintended health problems.

And for a school itself to not even look into the consequences? Even more irresponsible.

CAROLYN PARKS

Orange

Mayor’s ‘deaf ear’ splits a community

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday voted to split a neighborhood that has been a friendly community for at least as long as I’ve lived here (since 1985).

The issue was resident-only parking, and we all agreed that it was the best solution to the problems of crowded parking, graffiti and trash caused by residents of a condominium complex in Santa Ana that was built with too few parking spaces.

Our neighborhood consists of a horseshoe of three streets. The top of the horseshoe is Venetian Drive, the east side of which serves as guest parking for the entire neighborhood. Two of the three streets were granted resident-only parking, but our street, Cannonade Circle was not. It splits our neighborhood because residents and their guests on the two other streets can park on Cannonade, but our guests cannot park on Venetian or Damascus. We can no longer share in the guest parking area.

We are treated the same as the interlopers from Santa Ana.

In his usual form, Mayor Allan Mansoor announced that he did not want to include Cannonade in the parking plan even before he heard from the many residents who showed up from all three streets to support including Cannonade.

Once again the mayor turned a deaf ear to our community needs.

RICHARD GILLOCK

Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa’s future is in the balance

Illegal immigrants cost a large portion of Costa Mesa’s city services.

Education has always been the answer, but ask 20 Latino immigrants to speak English and you will be astounded to find one who can speak English fluently.

Costa Mesa should not continue to support immigrants and in particular on the west side of Harbor Boulevard. The Westside has remained an immigrant slum for over 30 years, silently encroaching upon the well-being of Costa Mesa’s future.

In all histories of immigrants, the deciding factor has always been the desire to live the American dream, go to school, study and learn English (the language of our Constitution). College is a basic.

The city needs educated people, and this education person, me, asks the city leaders to reevaluate the policy of keeping Latinos on the city’s charity rolls where they soak up a huge portion of city services and money.

We need eminent domain action to enlarge the city resources to develop the Westside.

I am for the City Council leaders with a few solid ideas for the future of the city of Costa Mesa.

Most of my ideas require education and the willingness to see the future ahead of us.

SARAH MOSS

Costa Mesa