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The parents of a severely malnourished baby girl who lived on a vegan diet sobbed in the dock as they were spared jail.

The pair, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty last year to failing to provide for a child and causing danger of serious injury.

On Thursday, they were sentenced to an 18-month intensive corrections order in Downing Centre district court in Sydney, with included 300 hours of community service.

The toddler, who is now three-years-old, was so severely malnourished by the time she was 19 months old that she had no teeth and looked three-months-old, The Guardian reported.

She also suffered from a preventable bone disease which had caused minor fractures.

The child, who was not vaccinated, had lived on a vegan diet of oats, potatoes, rice, tofu, bread, peanut butter, rice milk and occasionally fruit.

Authorities were alerted when the girl was hospitalised following a seizure. She weighed a mere 4.89 kilograms at the time and had not been seen by a doctor since leaving the hospital as a newborn baby.

She was unable to crawl or sit up unaided, had minimal bone development, she was yet to speak and had swollen legs due to fluid build up.

She is now in the care of other family members in the northeast Australian state of Queensland.

The child's health has improved since the removal from her parents. When placed on a normal diet in April 2018 she began to grow and her teeth started to come through, the court head.

Judge Sarah Huggett said the parents had been inconsistent and untruthful, telling authorities the girl had occasionally eaten animal products, would soon be vaccinated, had seen doctors and been growing.

She slammed the parents' behaviour as "reckless" and said "the abandonment of parental responsibility cannot be excused”.

Now separated, they have taken parenting courses since their arrest.

The mother has sought support for natal and postnatal depression which she said made her feel worthless, apathetic and listless.