‘I’m raising my children vegan like Lucy Watson and this is my advice’

Made in Chelsea star Lucy Watson made headlines this week when she announced that she will be raising her baby as a vegan with husband James Dunmore.

The television personality, 32, has been a supporter of animal rights and veganism her whole life. Despite the rise in plant-based diets and vegan lifestyles, there is still often a stigma surrounding parents raising their children in the same way.

It's something Katy Malkin, 35, a Volunteering Coordinator for the Vegan Society knows only too well, as, along with husband Ben, she's raising their two daughters, Elizabeth, eight, and Ava, three, as vegans.

Katy, who grew up on a farm, became a vegetarian at 12 and a vegan at 24, and tells us she made the decision because she was seeing where food really came from as well as slaughterhouses.

She tells OK!: "When I told my parents I was going vegetarian, my dad sat me down and tried to talk me out of it. I was quite stubborn and he didn't understand why I wanted to do it.

"But over time, he did get used to it and eventually me being vegan, it's not an issue anymore – we've got a good relationship."

Katy went on to get married to Ben and have two children, Elizabeth and Ava. When their first daughter was born, Ben wasn't vegan but switched after trying Veganuary one year.

She explains: "We initially agreed to raise Elizabeth as a vegetarian as a compromise between the two and then he became vegan before our second child was born. He's been vegan about six years now.

"It made sense for Elizabeth to go vegan with us and for us to raise our second daughter vegan so that we were a whole vegan household to make things clean and make sense with our family ethics and values."

Katy advises mums and mothers-to-be like Lucy Watson to do their research when it comes to raising their children as vegans.

"Like every parent, I'd never raise my child in a way that I thought could even possibly cause them harm.

"I made sure and other parents like Lucy should make sure to look up the topic. The NHS and the British Dietetic Association both agree that a well-planned vegan diet can support healthy people and that does include children and pregnant people, the whole spectrum.

"I'd advise people like Lucy or anyone else considering raising their kids as vegan to do that research and make the decision that's right for you and your family."

She also emphasises that a lack of proper research is what causes some people to struggle on a vegan diet and others to claim that it doesn't offer the correct nutrients.

Katy says: "If you are living off vegan junk food, you're going to be deficient in nutrients. I think that applies to vegans and non-vegans.

"Everyone should have a basic understanding of nutrition and their bodies so they have less chance of getting various illnesses as they get older."

Although it's a decision that she and her husband have considered carefully, Katy's still received backlash and questions over her children's diet, both on her Instagram page @thrivingveganfamily and from family members and friends.

She says: "Mostly people are curious and supportive. They might not be interested in following a vegan diet for themselves which is fine as people make their own choices – they just want to know what it's like.

"There's been a few family and friends that question what the girls eat and if they're healthy but I think that's from a place of not knowing about nutrition and a bit of fear because its a different way of living."

Online, she's had people calling her a child abuser or threatening to call the authorities, but tells us that its usually people who don't know about veganism who have those opinions.

Katy and Ben's children are very happy and healthy and don't know any different way of life other than veganism.

She adds: "My eight-year-old recently had a blood test after she had a bicycle accident and the results were brilliant, no deficiencies, no issues.

"Those stats speak for themselves and give me the confidence in what we are doing."

Katy encourages others considering veganism to start by making small changes to their diets. She says: "If you've got a specific health condition, I'd recommend going to see a registered dietician.

"But in general, if you're all in good health, it is absolutely supportive of people of all ages. Maybe go out try a few vegan meals, try and make a few substitutes in your family favourites."

Katy's children are now very used to veganism and she reveals that they've not yet asked for meat or about their diet but she will support them in the future if they choose to return to being carnivores or become vegetarians.

"At the moment my eldest doesn't like the smell of meat and seeing it in the supermarket so she's comfortable and happy not eating animal products.

"But if either of them want to eat meat or become vegetarian when they're older, I'll always love my kids unconditionally, regardless of how they eat."

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