How Effective is it?

Choosing a vegetarian diet can give your child-and your whole family-the opportunity to learn to enjoy a variety of wonderful, nutritious foods.

A well-planned vegetarian diet that includes dairy foods and eggs is perfectly safe for children. Young vegan children tend to be slightly smaller but still within growth normal ranges.

You can cook up a perfectly healthy, meat-free menu that supports weight loss and reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

There are a variety of vegetarian diets, but none of them include the consumption of meat, poultry, or fish. There are of course the lacto-ovo vegetarians, usually referred to simply as “vegetarians” because they use dairy and eggs. Vegans on the other hand don’t eat anything with animal origins.

Star ratings reflect scores of 1 to 5 assigned to the vegetarian diet in seven categories by nutritionists, specialists in diabetes and heart disease, and other diet experts on a ratings panel assembled by U.S. News. (See our Best Diets methodology.) The vegetarian diet won points from the experts because it's relatively good for heart health and for managing or preventing diabetes.

Vegetarians are at lower risk for some major diseases, plus their diets are more environmentally friendly.

Processed meats - including ham and bacon - have cause cancer, according to a much-anticipated report by the World Health Organisation.  The study suggests that just 50g of processed meat a day, the equivalent of less than two slices of bacon, increases the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 per cent - so could cutting out meat altogether make for a healthier lifestyle?

Surveys in the United States have estimated that nearly 30 million people eat diets that are largely or entirely meat-free. Many do so because they have ethical concerns about killing animals: they follow the principle of "not eating anything with eyes." Others do so because they feel better—more energetic, more focused—on meat-free, plant-based diets.

WebMD addresses the rumor: Are vegetarians healthier than meat eaters?

Eating a diet that is primarily plant-based doesn't have to be difficult or mean giving up all "good" good. See how and why to eat a plant-based diet.