Resources for vegetarian kids?

Question by hsmomlovinit: Resources for vegetarian kids?
My 10yo son has been a vegetarian since last summer, and while he’s doing really well with it, his activity level has gone up a lot in the past month or so. He’s working toward earning some fitness-related badges in Scouts and has started designing structured workouts for himself (cycling, swimming, hiking, etc.).

However, I’m concerned that he’s not consuming enough calories to counter the activities he’s doing. He’s started becoming exhausted more swiftly lately, and while I know this can just be due to developmental changes, I’d like to do a nutrition/fitness unit with him to help him gauge how much he should take per day and what amounts of nutrients, carbs, proteins, fats, etc. that he needs.

He’s one of those people that just gets so involved in whatever he’s interested in at the moment that he forgets to eat. By helping him focus a bit more on this, I’m hoping to make it interesting and fun for him to try new things and pay more attention to what (and how much) he eats.
So, I’d like to know of any websites, books, magazines, etc. that are appropriate for a 10yo boy? He enjoys research and is very into the science and health behind fitness, and he enjoys cooking. I’ve tried browsing on my own, but most of what I’ve come up with are sites that are geared more toward older teens, and while they’ve got good information, they tend to branch off into subjects that just aren’t appropriate for most 10yo’s.

Anything with fun recipes with nutritional analysis, a breakdown of a child’s dietary needs (especially if it has anything to do with a vegetarian diet), or encouragement for children his age would be great.

I really appreciate any help you can give – thanks!
Orange, thank you! Those sites are very helpful, I’ve bookmarked them and will go through them in more detail tomorrow.

I definitely want to support him, I’m just not very familiar yet with what resources are out there. While his being a vegetarian has helped me to begin intake healthier as well, I’m still pretty new at this. Thank you!

And I look forward to what others might have as well
Thank you all so much for the great ideas and sites. All of it is wonderful, and very helpful in getting ideas together, both for him and for me.

Best answer:

Answer by Orange
Hi, thank you for being so supportive of your son.

One good site is “Vegetarian Diets for Children: Right from the Start.” It describes the veg foods groups and at the bottom, there is a meal planning chart for vegetarian children 7-12 years old:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/children.html

This site has some healthy lunch box foods for veg kids:

http://www.vegcooking.com/backtoschool.asp

Also, here are recipes with nutritional analysis:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/recipes/recipe_archive.html

Vegetarian foods high in protein, iron, and calcium:

http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sources

Hope this helps!

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