Parents who fed their toddler a strict vegan diet have avoided jail after the child became so malnourished her bones fractured and teeth fell out.

The mother, 33, and father, 35, pleaded guilty in 2018 to failing to provide for their child and were sentenced on Thursday to 300 hours of community service in Australia

Their three children were taken away from them after Sydney police found their 20-month-old daughter, who had also not been vaccinated, suffering from rickets and a preventable bone disease as a result of her diet in March 2018.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

Judge Sarah Huggett condemned the couple’s “reckless failure to provide the necessities of life”, and said: This was not an isolated act or a momentary decision that caused danger to the child.

The child was seriously underweight, underdeveloped and undernourished. That would have taken time to occur.

Court documents revealed the girl, now three years old, was fed a diet of oats, potatoes, rice, tofu, bread, peanut butter and rice milk, with small snacks of fruit and vegetables, local media reported

The girl was taken into care in March 2018 after she suffered a fit and her lips turned blue, causing her mother to call the emergency services.

Aged 19 months, she weighed less than 5kg, suffered impaired motor skills and looked just three months old, the court previously heard. Her parents had never taken her to a doctor.

The toddler and her two older brothers, who were sufficiently nourished but not up to date with vaccinations, are now in the care of family members in Queensland, it was reported.

The girl’s health has improved but her future development remains in doubt. She was receiving physiotherapy and speech training, local media reported her foster carer as telling the court in a January victim impact statement.

Judge Huggett said that regardless of dietary preferences every parent has a responsibility to ensure their children’s diet is “balanced and contains sufficient essential nutrients and vitamins for optimum growth and development”.

Swedish parents jailed for almost starving vegan toddler to death

She said the parents, who cannot be named to protect their child’s anonymity, had been “inconsistent” and “untruthful”, and had told authorities their daughter sometimes ate meat products, was awaiting vaccinations and had seen doctors.

The mother had previously worked in childcare and was suffering with post-natal depression, local reports said.

The couple, both of whom wept in the dock, were sentenced to an 18-month corrections order so as not to damage the “important bond” with their children, of whom they have lost custody.

Comments

Share your thoughts and debate the big issues

Learn more
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
  • You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully
  • Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
  • Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties
  • We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification

You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.

Create a commenting name to join the debate

Please try again, the name must be unique Only letters and numbers accepted
Loading comments...
Loading comments...
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
  • You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully
  • Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
  • Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties
  • We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification

You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.

Loading comments...
Loading comments...