“1 in 200 Kids are Vegetarian”…NOT!

It turns out the story that everyone (including me) was reporting a few weeks ago turns out to be false. The estimate came from a study done by the CDC which asked participants about their child’s eating habits. The questions were posed in such a way that it actually gave a low estimate of vegetarian children! It turns out that the study was mainly about alternative medicine and was asking the questions (via VeganHealth.org):

During the past 12 months did [your child] use any of the following special diets for two weeks or more for health reasons? Please say yes or no to each. [Vegetarian was one of the options.]

During the past 12 months did [your child] use a vegetarian diet to treat a specific health problem or condition other than weight control or weight loss?

PETA has pointed out that this excludes all people that are vegetarian for environmental, ethical, and religious reasons. So it turns out that there are even for veggies out there than we thought!

Thanks PETA for taking the time to find this out.