A new draft legislation would also see sentences rise to four years if malnutrition in children caused by their diet resulted in illness or permanent injury.
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Elivra Savino, a member of Italy’s Forza Italia party, proposed legislation that would criminalize diets lacking meat and dairy because it lacks “essential elements for the growth” of children up to 16-years-old, she wrote in a policy posted to Parliament’s website.
Savino, who worked in public relations before being elected a parliamentarian in 2008, wrote in the introduction to the law that the belief that “a vegetarian diet, even in the rigid form of a vegan diet, results in significant health benefits” was becoming more widespread in Italy. However, the issue is when minors are forced to follow a diet.
Savino says this draconian measure is necessary because a growing number of Italians are following a vegan or vegetarian diet, which has a severe impact on children who require “essential elements needed for an healthy physical and cognitive development”.
Eight per cent of Italians are vegetarian or vegan. Saving pointed out that that kids may not get enough zinc and omega 3 while on a diet.
Parents in Italy who choose to consume their children with veganism could face imprisonment up to four years for their personal lifestyle choices.
In mid-April past year, an Italian court ruled that a woman in Bergamo, northern Italy, must cook meat for her son at least once a week following complaints from the boy’s father.
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In June, a two-year-old toddler was hospitalized in Genoa and had to be treated for vitamin deficiency as the result of a vegan diet. The head pediatrician at the Milan hospital said that any children being raised on a vegan diet should be given supplements, particularly iron and calcium. He weighed as much as a three-month-old child. Furthermore, it’s worth pointing out that around 3% of Italians consider themselves vegans.
