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'm not surprised they're healthy, if they're consuming a synthetic formula designed to ensure all essential nutrients are present. I strongly suspect that this formula includes ingredients derived from animals and/or synthetic ingedients that are not available in any natural non-animal food.
Only if you lay down in front of the mower...lol.
Thanks.. great website.
BUMP!
(Born in Lafayette)
Here's what I just sent to The AZ Republic today:
With regard to the kids whose parents were recently arrested because of their health (Vegans accused of starving 3 kids).
The media is proud to point out that these kids were homeschooled. This is not a homeschooling issue. It is a health issue.
I don't see the media going out of their way to report teachers who are charged with child molestation as "government employed teachers." Nor do we see "government schooled student brings gun/weapons to school."
Let's hope that homeschooling families are not cast in a negative way as a result of this isolated incident.
Die hippies.
You unthinking, cruel, evil minded @#$@#!
Now I've got to go down the street to the BBQ place.
Geeze.
That's Right ;) If it moves, it's fair game.
hmmmmmm.....
heh
http://www.meadjohnson.com/professional/products/phenylfree2.html
There's a very strict Hindu sect that is pure vegan -- has been for many centuries, and survived and reproduced just fine. Some of them moved to England, where they all got seriously ill after a few years, supposedly living on the same diet.
Turns out that the grain in England is a lot cleaner than the grain in India. The "vegans" in India were getting a substantial dose of vitamin B12 and essential fatty acids from the INSECTS that contaminated the grain they were eating.
When they started eating clean English grain, they became true vegans for the first time! After several years on that diet, their bodies slowly ran out of stored nutrients, and deficiency symptoms began.
Dont most newborns weigh in at 9 or 10 pounds?
one for your just damn list
My first thought was "how did I guess?"
These nuts make up a small minority in the homeschool community, but we are all painted by the same brush of their nuttiness when something like this happens.
Actually, it's protein (22%), fat (19%), and carbohydrates, (59%), with some vitamins and minerals thrown in the mix. And oddly, they give the source of the fat (soy oil) and of the carbohydrates (sugar, corn syrup solids, and modified corn starch), but not a peep about the source of the protein. I'd be really surprised if it doesn't include animal sources. Virtually all protein supplements do, except those marketed specifically as vegan products, and I don't think any of those contain all the amino acids listed in the Phenyl-Free. I don't think your daughters are vegans after all -- you could e-mail Mead Johnson to confirm.
Yep, the media totally exploits every one of these situations. I can't imagine why. </ sarcasm >
:)
Yikes, my 8 month old ways much more than that. Of course, he gets streak, ribs, ham, etc... a few hours after his mom eats them of course. His one tooth can't handle meat directly just yet.
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