The teenage world can be a fastmoving blur of instant communication and rapid change.
But while adolescent tastes and fads can shift in a nanosecond, teens, especially girls, seem unlikely to dismiss vegetarianism as “so yesterday” anytime soon, experts contend.
In what appears a rising trend, roughly 1.4 million under-18s in the United States identify themselves as vegetarians or vegans, including 11 percent of girls between the ages of 13 and 17, according to the American Dietetic Association.
Hamburg High School student Alisia Liguoro, 15, said she joined that growing demographic about five months ago. One reason, she said, was that she felt like a hypocrite because she claimed to love animals and yet she was still eating meat.
But Liguoro also said her decision was largely a reaction to widely publicized obesity and diabetes rates among American teens.
“It (meat) just didn’t seem to taste right anymore,” she said. “And so one day I thought, ‘I’m just not going to eat (meat) anymore.’ “
John L. Cunningham, consumer research manager for the Vegetarian Research Group, Baltimore, said the vast majority of teens who practice vegetarianism do it for the same reason as Liguoro.
“This is when children are beginning to test their boundaries and explore who they are,” Cunningham said. “But the main reasons people become vegetarian is ethics — they are uncomfortable with the way animals are treated and don’t want to consume them.”
However, some health professionals believe the ethics argument is overly simplistic and overlooks a deeper, more troubling underlying trend that is fueling the vegetarian rise.
“There is definitely something deeper,” said Dr. Avidan Milevsky, assistant professor of developmental psychology at Kutztown University. “Trends don’t take off unless there is a fire fueling the trend, and I would say this is more a body image and self-esteem issue.”
Milevsky agreed that adolescence comes with a rising consciousness, including a greater awareness of the impact of personal behavior on health.
However, rather than vegetarianism being adopted as part of a positive approach to health, many times it’s seen as an ideal foil to divert attention from existing eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia.
“Unfortunately, this trend overall is not about avoiding future health risks,” he said. “While it may seem a lofty ideal, vegetarianism can be a very attractive option for teenagers looking to dispel suspicion and mask the pattern of disturbed eating.”
Meredith L. Mensinger, clinical nutrition manager at St. Joseph Medical Center, said vegetarianism among teens can be a healthy, positive step, but it also needs to be taken with caution and not blindly embraced.
“There are many different vegetarian diets and many different reasons why teenagers may adopt them,” she said. “Is it family tradition? Is it peer pressure? Is it body image issues?
“That has to be looked at and considered with the teen population.”
Cunningham said that perhaps the high vegetarian rate in teen girls — 11 percent versus 7 percent in women — may be better explained by the fact girls simply are more sensitive to animal rights and the environment.
“There are more girls than boys (adopting the lifestyle) because they are not immersed in the macho culture, where compassion is not encouraged and, unfortunately, aggressiveness is,” he said.
That view is supported, Cunningham said, by a 2005 study by Teenage Research Unlimited that showed nearly a quarter of girls held a favorable view of vegetarianism.
Cunningham also said that girls are more willing to adopt the lifestyle now that it is more widely accepted in society and more options exist in grocery stores and restaurants to cater to their needs.
“Ten or 20 years ago, vegetarianism was considered a harmful fringe activity,” he said. “When a girl told her parents she wanted to be vegetarian, they’d say: ‘Forget it. You’ll eat what we make you.’ “
Liguoro said the vegetarian teen still is relatively rare, at least as far as she can tell among her peers at school.
And, she said, she adopted the lifestyle without pressure from friends or to hide existing problems.
“I think we just take in more when we hear about things like cruelty to animals,” she said. “We take it more into consideration than adults do, who seem to think it’s just a part of life.
“I don’t think that’s how it should be.”
Milevsky said that while there are some major underlying concerns regarding teen vegetarianism, it’s unlikely the rising trend will fall any time soon.
“It is catching on and once a trend emerges, a lot of other teens see it as a cool concept and come on board,” he said. “There are many, many fads and trends that have not lasted because there are no underlying issues to ensure that they self-perpetuate.
“But, as long as the Hollywood culture continues to permeate adolescent groups, the need to engage in eating patterns to develop a certain body image will continue.
“Whether a new fad, such as a diet plan or pill, emerges to replace teen vegetarianism remains to be seen. But the need for adolescents to explore identity and have a positive image are not going anywhere soon.”
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