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An Italian official is calling for new laws that would punish parents who put their children on vegan diets, or force "reckless and dangerous eating behavour" on them with a sentence of up to six years in prison, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.

The legislation would "stigmatize the reckless and dangerous eating behaviours imposed by parents... to the detriment of minors," the outlet quoted Elvira Savino, a deputy of the center-right Forza Italia party, as saying.

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In the introduction to the bill, Savino warned that the view of a vegan diet "resulting in significant health benefits" was becoming more widely accepted in Italy.

The suggested base penalty for parents is one year, but it could be longer if the child is under three years old. In addition, if a child becomes ill due to the diet, the sentence could be lengthened to 2.5 - 4 years, and if the diet results in a child's death, parents could be put behind bars for up to six years.

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Calls for the anti-Vegan law came after several high-profile cases of children suffering from severe malnutrition as a result of veganism emerged in Italy.

Last month, a one-year-old boy weighing 5 kilograms with blood calcium levels barely sufficient to survive was removed from his parents in Milan.

In June, a two-year-old toddler was hospitalized in Genoa and had to be treated for vitamin deficiency as the result of a vegan diet.

I love that the Italian official warned people about the dangerous idea that veganism has "significan health benefits".

Hopefully science will win out.

However, the president of the Italian Society of Food Science responded to Savino, telling La Repubblica that a diet containing excessive sugar and fat could do much more harm than vegan diets.

I'm all for arresting idiot parents, but it's got nothing to do with them being vegan. Their kids were malnourished because they weren't feeding them properly, not because they weren't letting them have meat and dairy. Yeah, making sure a kid gets all the nutrients they need on a vegan diet is work. If you can't manage that, don't have kids. Please. It would be a favor to everyone.

"If you can't manage that, don't have kids. Please. It would be a favor to everyone."

That's what I've been telling those who asked me why I haven't started a family. They seem to think I'm better-adjusted than I am!