Many vegan parents like yourself often feel concerned about their child’s nutrition, especially making sure they meet key nutrients on a vegan diet to support their growth and development.

A past client of mine was a first time mom and passionate about raising her then 10-month old daughter on a vegan diet. She chose to adopt a vegan lifestyle as a way to extend compassion to animals after watching a documentary. Learning about the inhumane treatment of animals and how dairy is massively produced for human consumption just didn’t feel right to her. She realized she no longer wanted to take part in the factory farming industry via her food choices.

Adopting a vegan diet along with her family felt like the right thing to do but it left her feeling concerned about her daughter’s nutrition—particularly about calcium needs. During our call together, I could tell she felt conflicted.

One of the biggest challenges for her was just not knowing how to best support her daughter's growth on a vegan diet—specifically meeting calcium needs. Her whole life she grew up knowing that dairy products were the best sources of food in meeting calcium but now that she was raising a daughter on a vegan diet, that was the last food she wanted to give her. Naturally, she felt unsure if plant foods alone could meet her daughter’s calcium needs and that left her feeling worried.

But she’s not the only one that feels that way. I know that because I hear from vegan parents feeling concerned and unsure about how to meet their infant’s, toddler’s, and or child’s calcium needs entirely from plant foods.

Can children meet their calcium needs on a vegan diet?

Calcium is such an important nutrient for growing children, regardless of what diet they follow. The thing is, dairy isn't the only food that meets this essential nutrient and to be quite honest with you, research has shown that calcium from certain plant foods are better absorbed vs dairy products.

Children do not need dairy products to meet their calcium needs to build strong bones and teeth. They can meet their calcium needs from a wide variety of plant foods as long as these are included when planning your vegan kids meals & snacks.

Here are my top 5 favorite sources of calcium for vegan children

Fortified Soy Milk: 1 cup (240ml) = 300 mg
Tofu, calcium-set, raw: 3oz (85gm) = 150 mg
Tahini (made from sesame seeds): 1 tablespoon (15gm) = 64 mg
Almond Butter: 1 tablespoon (16gm) = 55 mg
Orange: 1 medium (131gm) = 50 mg

So, yes, infants, toddlers, and children can certainly meet their calcium requirements from plant foods. The key here is to include calcium-rich foods with meals from a wide variety of sources.

How to meet calcium needs for vegan kids

Aside from including a variety of plant sources rich in calcium, I want to share my top 3 strategies that I recommend to vegan parents to ensure their vegan child meets their calcium needs.

Include a fortified plant milk

Including a fortified plant milk in your vegan child’s diet is simply an easy way to ensure calcium needs are met. You can provide this throughout the day with smoothies, in baked goods, oatmeal, or simply stand-alone with meals & snacks. Sometimes kids don’t eat much and while that can be typical for a growing child, this can be challenging for them to meet their calcium needs. Including fortified plant milk is an effective way to help them reach their daily calcium requirements. Now you may be asking what the best plant milk for your child may be and in this blog post I share why unsweetened, fortified soy milk is best for kids who follow a vegan diet.
Include 2 - 5 servings of calcium-rich foods

Number of servings and portion size really depends on your child’s age but including at least 2 sources of calcium-rich foods throughout the day ensures that your child receives adequate calcium. Providing just 1 cup of fortified soy milk can count as 1 of those servings for the day.
Don’t worry about calculating calcium amounts

One of the things I encounter when working with parents is their desire to calculate the amount of calcium in foods based on portion sizes. And this is certainly valid and a good reference to know how much your child is getting through their diet. However, I don't’ recommend this and to be truthfully honest with you, it’s not something I do myself with my daughter. Calculating amounts may only cause stress and anxiety, especially if and when your child doesn’t eat that portion size. So, a more realistic approach that I teach my clients and follow myself is simply to ensure a wide variety of plant foods that provide calcium. This is something I teach in more depth in the Vegan Kids Nutrition Blueprint online course.

Meal ideas for meeting children’s calcium needs

There are perhaps infinite ways to help meet your child’s calcium needs on a vegan diet and I want to share a few strategies with you that I personally follow to help meet my daughter’s calcium needs.

Use tahini to make energy balls, sauces for veggie balls, dips to snack on veggies or crackers
Blend tofu to use as a cream or sauce for pastas. There is one recipe for vegan mac & ‘cheese’ where I use tofu to blend for the sauce in the Vegan Kids Cookbook
Aside form sandwiches, you can use almond butter for energy balls, use to stick rice together when following Baby Led Weaning for your infant and turn into a ball to hold more easily, add to smoothies or recipes in muffins

I’m sure you can find other creative ways to find ways to incorporate these top 5 sources of calcium for your vegan child. You can share your ideas in the comments below to help other parents include them in their own meal planning.