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
Mmmm, nothing better than freshly killed, home grown chicken. I can still remember the taste, it's been a while. My Baba used to raise chickens and prepare them for us. (I would help my grandma pluck the feathers, but shied away from the rest of the process.) They were huge (fed 8 or more of us) and so delicious. The eggs were fabulously delicious, too. I sometimes can't stomach the 'chickeny' taste of some store bought chickens and go without.
Once a person has chicken soup made from scratch, I mean with fresh chicken they'll never eat dehydrated, boxed up soup again.
So true. Right, like a 12 lb 3 yr old is normal. Maybe in countries where starvation is a problem. I notice, too, the mother was a healthy 5'6" and 115. Thin but not emaciated.
My six-year-old chow dog weighs more than their nine-year-old HUMAN CHILD -- ?!?
Child abuse. Period. Full stop. End of sentence.
IIRC, in Britain feeding children a strictly macrobiotic diet is considered child abuse.
I know those kids. They weren't pale. They were translucent.
So true. I only like 'my' chicken soup. I have to splurge and try it with an organic or free range chicken. There is a grocer near me that has pretty good chicken, locally raised but not organic and he butchers some every week. It doesn't have that 'chickeny', chemical taste I've grown to hate. And boxed soups are the worst. That 'artificial' chicken 'flavor' that is added is an atrocity. Not to mention a pleasing and healthful yellow color/taste could be had with turmeric or even saffron rather than some chemical 'tastes like' compound...
See through, even.
That is why I qualified my statement, though, since I'm sure some research has been done in the intervening years. If he didn't know the secret to making a vegan diet work for small children, I bet the parents didn't either, and that's one reason why the poor kids were so puny.
I will say that he was a crackerjack pediatrician, and he saved my little sister's life. I would pretty much still go with his opinion. He's retired from practice now, but I could always go ask him if he's changed his mind!
If it works for you and you're healthy, then it's all good.
45 years ago,no one had knew what this condition was(other than just mentally retarded)much less how to treat it,so I guess I'll give him a pass:D
I come from a long line of cattle farmers; paternal side beef, maternal side dairy. Also had some hogs, sheep, etc. Our family ate a lot of meat and had whole milk, home churned butter, home-made cottage cheese. Cooked with lard. Family tree is full of those living to 90.
My husband's family ate more fish, etc. Both his grandfathers died in their 50's of heart attacks.
He had a heart attack at age 47. His mother (who has always eaten like a little bird - lots of fish - weighs 104 lbs) had a heart attack shortly after menopause (but lived) and has had 3 angioplastys.
It's in the genes.
These kids with such tall parents should not be so small, no way.
I never mention this to my meat-eating friends, but it doesn't really look like food to me, more like something from a pathology lab. I have zero problems with craving it or feeling like I'm missing something.
If our governor uses the homeschooling in this as an issue, she should also throw in the ability to have an organized home as well.
bump for later
My sister has had IBS since she was young and one of the few times she has had any relief from it was when she was on the Atkins diet.
Good enough reason for me! lol
While we miss the traffic, extreme liberalism, urban mentality, fast pace, high cost of living and outrageous taxes of NJ living...lol, I hated NJ. I know it has it's good points and good people, but I would much rather admire them from afar. :) So for me, there is no comparison! Couldn't be happier. My husband and I are both from PA so this is like coming home.
Where in Summit County??
I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you. ;) Seriously though, looks like we're neighbors. I'll freepmail ya.
""""I'd like to see the "Supersize Me" movie dude who at McD's for 30 days straight live with this pair of kooks. Two days later his butt would be a salad shooter.""""
It was on one of the movie channels and I watched it and his girlfriend is a vegan chef. He was adamant about not going vegan.
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