Parents who force their children to eat a vegan diet would face prison under a proposed new law in Italy.

Forza Italia MP Elvira Savino wants parents who give children under the age of 16 a diet “lacking essential elements for a healthy growth” to spend up to two years in prison, the UK Telegraph reports.

The centre-right politician put forward the proposal as a means to protect minors from “radicalised” parents after Italy saw an increase in adults adopting vegetarian and vegan diets.

She believes vegan diets leave children lacking qualities of iron, zinc and B12.

Under the proposed law, parents would face up to one year behind bars and up to two and a half years if the vegan diet leads to their child “getting permanently sick or hurt”.

If a child given a vegan diet was to die, their parent may face up to six years behind bars.

Ms Savino’s proposal follows a number of cases in which young children were found to be malnourished because of a poor vegan diet.

A two-year-old girl from Genoa was hospitalised in June after showing neurological issues, which doctors believe stemmed from low vitamin B12 levels, the Telegraph reports.

A 14-month-old boy from Milan was also hospitalised after he was found to weigh as much as a three-month-old as a result of his diet.