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A mother and father, aged 32 and 34, will face jail time after admitting they caused their daughter serious injury, feeding her such a restrictive vegan diet she became severely malnourished. The 19-month-old developed severe health conditions - including rickets, a bone disease developed by malnourishment. A court in Sydney, Australia heard the toddler was fed oats, rice milk, and bananas for breakfast followed by a jam and peanut butter toast for lunch. In the evening, she would be offered tofu, rice or potatoes but the couple said their daughter was a "fussy eater" so she would choose to eat oats again.

The extreme vegan diet resulted in severe nutrient deficiencies for the toddler, including lack of calcium, phosphate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, iron and zinc.



The child was admitted to hospital in March this year after suffering a seizure, which led doctors to discover her poor health.



The girl was found to weigh only 4.9kg, less than double her birth weight.



Doctors realised the girl had severe vitamin deficiencies, and her mother had told them she fed her child a completely vegan diet.

A vegan couple will face jail for malnourishing their child, after feeding her a restrictive diet

Low levels of vitamin D can cause bone disease, and doctors found the nutrient "undetectable" in the child.



The girl's bones were so brittle she developed fractures all over her body, leading doctors believed they were broken by "normal handling".



Doctors described the child as "floppy" and noted how she could not crawl or talk.



It was found the parents did not send their daughter for immunisations and follow up check ups since she was born.

The child was fed oats, rice milk and bananas for breakfast

The toddler ate peanut butter and jam on toast for lunch