With the carnivore diet trending on social media, some parents have decided to have their babies follow the same meat-based or animal-based diet. Proponents of the carnivore diet believe it makes them healthier, but medical experts have warned that the diet is too restrictive for little ones. A balanced diet allows people to get the nutrients they need.
The risks associated with a meat-centric diet are particularly concerning for babies and children, which is why medical experts are concerned about the “carnivore baby” trend.
Parents on social media have promoted the carnivore diet for babies.
@flourishingmother Missed a few nursing sessions but these were the solids my animal based baby ate in a day! #animalbased #carnivore #babyledweaning #primal #crunchymom #babyfoodrecipes #firstfoods ♬ original sound – Meg T.
The carnivore baby content has been pretty controversial, with some parents encouraging the lifestyle and others slamming parents for having their babies follow a restrictive diet. On TikTok, one mom (@flourishingmother) shared a video about what her 11-month-old “animal-based baby” eats in a day. In response to the video, one critic wrote, “Do you hate your baby?” But others defended the mom and called the baby “well fed.”
Another mom (@heyitsvivyyy) shared a clip of her baby holding and chewing on a big piece of meat. She captioned the clip with, “Our carnivore baby 🥩 Need a teething hack? Just give your baby a big piece of meat!”
One dad has garnered a lot of backlash because he feeds his little ones raw meat. The controversial father, Pauly Long, has said that he “never forced anything on my kid, and I never will.” But critics are still concerned the father is feeding his 1-year-old and 2-year-old things such as raw bull testicles, raw salmon, and raw goat testicles.
Parents of ‘carnivore babies’ have defended the diet.
@heyitsvivyyy Our carnivore baby 🥩 Need a teething hack? Just give your baby a big piece of meat! #teething #teethingbaby #teethers #carnivore #carnivorebaby #meatlovers #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound – VIVYANNE | 🎀❤️🔥✝️
The parents know that not everyone is supportive of their decision to feed their little ones a meat-based diet, but they don’t seem to care about that. The New York Post recently spoke to several parents of carnivore babies. One mom, Angelena Minniti-Stampone, told the newspaper that her baby simply loves meat. “She literally snatches the meat out of my mouth,” she said.
Other parents defended the diet for similar reasons. A second mom, Evelyn Flores, told the news outlet that her family has been criticized for having their 10-month-old follow an animal-based diet.
“People have said things like, ‘Oh, he shouldn’t be eating [like a carnivore], he should be eating purées,’ but meat is what he wants,” she said. A third mom of a carnivore baby, Taryn Frenzel, said she “couldn’t care less what people online have to say about” what she feeds her baby.
But medical experts have some concerns.
Bridget Kiernan, a pediatric gastroenterologist with NYU Langone Health, told the Post that feeding babies meat can be fine, as long as they have a balanced diet. In other words, too much meat can be a problem for little ones.
“Meat can be a complementary food for infants,” she explained. “But babies still need carbs, whole grains, sugars from fruits and vegetables.” She said eating meat is fine “in moderation” but “we want to give children a balanced diet with all of the macro- and micro-nutrients.”
Similarly, when writing for HealthyChildren.org, Dr. Mark Corkins argued that “an infant’s nutritional needs can’t be met through a meat-forward diet” because “consuming only animal fat, flesh, eggs and milk leaves dangerous gaps in a little one’s diet” and “plant-based foods are necessary for healthy growth and development.”
