Posted on 05/12/2005 9:34:27 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy
A Scottsdale couple have been charged with child abuse after their three children, who police said were put on a type of vegan diet, were found malnourished and severely underweight.
The couple’s 3-year-old daughter weighed 12 pounds when she was taken to Phoenix Children’s Hospital last month after apparently having a seizure, said Scottsdale detective Sam Bailey. All three children remained hospitalized Wednesday, Bailey said.
The parents, Blair Parker, 34, and Kimu Parker, 35, were arrested April 28, and on Wednesday were each being held on $90,000 bail in a Maricopa County jail.
The Parkers were charged by a direct complaint from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, according to court records. Bill FitzGerald, spokesman for the office, said the case is expected to go before a grand jury for possible indictment.
Police said that after Blair Parker took his youngest girl to the hospital, a social worker contacted police.
At the couple’s home in the 300 block of North Miller Road, police found the two other emaciated children. The 9-year-old boy weighed 29 pounds and stood at 3 feet 4 inches tall, while the 11-year-old girl was 3 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 36.5 pounds, a police report said.
Police said the Parkers’ house was immaculate, "organized" and "free of clutter." The refrigerator was stocked with fresh vegetables, roots and mixed grains.
Both older children, who were home-schooled, were well-spoken and welleducated for their ages, though officers thought the children looked young for their ages, the report said.
Dr. Janice Piatt, a pediatrician at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, later told police, "I have never seen such stunting before except maybe in Africa. It was beyond severe malnutrition."
Yet Bailey said the couple "weren’t consciously starving their kids."
He noted that the children’s mother also was thin — she weighed 115 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches tall.
"She was extremely skinny but did not appear malnourished," the report said.
Blair Parker, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds, told detectives his family was on vegan diets and don’t consume animal or dairy products.
Kimu Parker told police the family mainly eats rice, beans and vegetables. She said the two older children were small for their ages because they didn’t have "animal steroids and other products that the average person consumes."
None of the children have been vaccinated, and the family believes in holistic medicine and were in contact with a doctor in Wisconsin who would explain to them how to treat their children after diagnosing them, the report said.
The couple, who have read extensively on health issues, said the girls’ bodies don’t absorb protein and that the holistic doctor diagnosed the problem, according to the report. They supplemented the 3-year-old’s diet with a product that was supposed to help absorb the protein.
In general, vegan diets should be safe for children as long as they get the proper nutrients, two Valley nutrition specialists said.
"With regard to whether it’s appropriate for a child — there are healthy children who eat vegan all the time," said Terry Hughes of Gentle Strength Cooperative in Tempe.
Karen S. Moses, a registered dietitian at Arizona State University, said it’s possible to raise children on vegan diets successfully.
"People can be very conscientious about how they feed their children and can do a vegan diet without compromising the child’s health. It takes a lot of work. You really have to be conscientious about protein and calcium. You have to be really thinking about nutrients in a way that other people may not."
Contact Irene Hsiao by email, or phone (480)-970-2324
I had raw milk as a kid...it was great...but now as a grown up, I am kind of lactose intolerant...do very little uncultured milk, and if I do too much of it at a time, forget it, I will have a sick stomach all day. I can even tell if I ate too much cheese.
Yogurt seems to work best for me. Funny how that goes.
But I shot them myself!
And they tasted good.
Something like this was on an episode of House. Sick people, those vegans.
I am a gardener too. Right now I am "between" gardens (moving soon so didn't bother) but in the past I've grown:
Apples
Peaches
Corn
Tomatoes
Peppers
Cukes
Zucchini
Pumpkin
Plums
Oranges (indoors w/grow lights)
Radishes
Lettuce
Raspberries
Strawberries
LOL!! Those are your birds?
Oh great.
That's the same with my (Conservative/Republican) brother and his wife.
My niece is being raised vegan and is very healthy. But she has two educated parents who know what to do and eat a huge variety of foods etc.
He noted that the children’s mother also was thin — she weighed 115 pounds and was 5 foot 6 inches tall.
Unless she has enormous breasts, that sounds ideal.
She said the two older children were small for their ages because they didn’t have "animal steroids and other products that the average person consumes."
That may also be true. I have heard statistics that in one generation the average height in Japan has grown by something like three inches. That aint evolution there.
None of the children have been vaccinated, and the family believes in holistic medicine and were in contact with a doctor in Wisconsin who would explain to them how to treat their children after diagnosing them, the report said.
I think that is prudent as well. Anybody ever read the Susan Powter book on the subject? How many kids needed tubes in their ears pre-1980? Notice also that the kids were actually intelligent. Malnutrition, especially prenatal and postnatal would preclude that.
Oh God. The cat thing disturbs me, because I have a 14 yo cat that weighs 18 lbs. This poor little girl weighs less than an old cat. I still can't believe these parents! *^*^&$&$#@!!!!
Actually, vegetable oil or vegetable/tallow blends are very common. Canola (ugh!) especially.
Healthier to make them at home with bacon grease.
I went a little crazy with tomatoes this year. Wow oranges?? You're hard core. I live in NY and would to grow oranges and avocado.
Political correctness is their religion. There are many laws of PC. Violate one and you are a bad person. Don't question any of them. Obey, obey, obey.
It is a tyranny of the left that puts a little censor in everyone's head, making us stop and pause before saying a word like "mailman" these days so we don't offend someone.
>> Great, children, pawns of human trials for the mentally disturbed.<<
And that is how some describe parents that make their children go to church.
That's my philosophy with my meat eating friends, too. I can't stand self-righteous PETA types. I don't even like the word "vegetarian", it has a condescending ring to it.
She loves it and she's totally healthy.
I couldn't give up meat, but I've seen some of the more interesting meals that vegetarians and vegan acquaintences of mine have prepared. With those meals I could probably do a week or two before I wanted some meat again.
Yep. The only game my hubby and I got this year....had to climb up quite a hillside to get to where the grouse are, too...over 700 feet up and 2 miles in. Don't actually think it's a calorie efficient way to get food, but it's fun.
As long as she's healthy :-)
A.) I don't think that's true anymore, and B.) you can make them at home.
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