I just watched a local news report about a 7 year old who has garnered the national spotlight as the "cutest vegan kid of 2014." He was dubbed this by PETA. He's been vegan since he was a "few weeks old." He doesn't eat meat or anything that has animal byproducts.

What gets me is he is clearly overweight (very round face, significant double chin, bigger belly). So what does he eat? According to him, ... " I eat cookies, apples, donuts, and ice cream." I wonder ... coincidence that he has a weight problem?

Here's the link to the video: Cutest Vegan Kid of 2014

Did he get any breast milk before becoming vegan at a few weeks old? His mother is overweight, he looks obese. His looks are average; the other contest entries must have been quite ugly vegans. That's a scary story!

Looks aside, its nothing to be proud of!

Jo xxx

His doctor should have intervened by now to clue Mom in that her kid is obese. Looks way off those percentile charts used by pediatricians in US.

Besides the other very good points mentioned here,does it bother anyone else that this contest apparently focuses totally on looks? "Cutest vegan kid." I have a real problem these days with how the media (and all of us) use looks to intimidate others or to justify a lifestyle, etc. Besides, all kids are cute. Everyone has some beauty. It seems really damaging to me to start overtly stratifying people by "beauty" standards at a young age. It happens enough in a non-direct way as it is.

Also this. Anyone you know eating cat?

And this:I suppose there are vegan versions without egg in the cookies, or milk in the doughnut dough? I'm not knowledgeable enough to be sure. But, seriously, you know that he/they have not and can not totally avoid animal "byproducts." Not to mention, as others have, that those are not particularly nutritious even by vegan standards. May get veganism more young followers though. 'I want to be a vegan. You get to eat sugary stuff and be cute.'

Lastly, I am cynical enough to think PETA chose his essay because of this: Part of the essay included, They feel the "religious right" is a group that opposes their viewpoint and they want to use this as an inroad to those who may be less adamant. Makes good press. How can we doubt the cutest vegan kid. Don't want to bash the young man. I'm sure he is a great kid. Hate that he's being used as a pawn in a very stupid argument. IMHO

Wow. Turned into a rant. Ignore me and carry on, lol!

I loathe PETA.

The woman who runs it is a scam artist. For years, she kept herself alive with insulin from animals. Some principles!

But worst of all is the whole "give us your animals when you can't care for them." Then they kill them and throw them in dumpsters. Facts came out in court, in Virginia.

But didn't get nearly enough press.

I loathe them too. Fanatic groups of any kind are dangerous. And PETA are fanatics.

Her excuse at the time was that the animals she got were in such bad shape they would have had to be euthanized anyway. Sure, Ingrid. Right on.

As for the vegan kid, I'm reminded of an online acquaintance of mine who was bemoaning the fact that her two-year-old son needed to get a load of dental work done due to tons of cavities and other problems. She was a vegetarian bordering on vegan and of course she was raising the kid the same way. When I suggested (nicely) that his diet might be the cause of his problems, out came the vegan pitchforks and torches. "How dare you criticize Jen?" "It's family history!" No one thought it the least bit odd that a TWO-YEAR-OLD'S TEETH WERE ROTTING OUT OF HIS HEAD. I still shake my head over that one.

That's terrible! There's folks who don't even know they're supposed to teach their toddler to brush and their kids' teeth do better than that!

I think it's very indicative of the Vegan state of mind when I see how utterly defensive they are about their eating habits. Heck, my own way of eating is under far more attack than theirs, yet I shrug off criticism.

Maybe because I feel good eating this way... and they don't feel good eating their way.

I honestly doubt that had anything to do with the vegan diet - and I'm not sure why as meat eaters (who are often attacked for our OWN diet) that we feel the need to bash others. A vegan diet can be perfectly healthy. And yes, I do know a 2 year old with teeth rotting out of his head - my cousin. In his case it is because his mom always put him down for naps with a bottle full of milk. That does mean milk is "bad" - just that letting it pool on the teeth is.

Ah, yes, Vegan Rage. Lierre Keith mentioned it in "The Vegetarian Myth."

Just an FYI - my OP was not about the Vegan Diet but about the fact the child eats "cookies, applies, doughnuts, and ice cream." Those are very carby/sugary foods. That's the coincidence to which I referred.

Point taken 2thinchix. It is hypocritical and unkind of me to criticize another's food choices. I regret doing that. I do, however, still think the "cutest kid" thing is not a healthy trend. And it is in all parts of society.

Thanks for calling me on that.

Of course a kid's going to go for the sweet. That's what happened with my acquaintance's son--he lived on Cheerios, apple juice, peanut butter sandwiches and bananas. MAYBE he had skim milk on the Cheerios occasionally. I would have been more shocked if he hadn't had dental problems. That poor kid.

The vegan Mom probably put the her year old down for naps with juice to rot out his teeth.