Swedish Parents Sentenced for Forcing Daughter on Restrictive Vegetarian Diet

A court in Gothenburg, Sweden, has sentenced two parents to three months in prison for endangering the life and health of their young daughter by restricting her diet to vegetables and breast milk, Dagens Nyheter reports.

According to case materials, the incident occurred in 2019. The one-and-a-half-year-old girl was admitted to hospital in critical condition. Medical examinations revealed that she weighed only six kilograms, whereas the normal weight for a child of her age is at least nine kilograms.

Doctors identified severe malnutrition and acute vitamin B12 deficiency. During the investigation, the parents admitted that they had fed the child exclusively breast milk and vegetables, without providing any vitamin or mineral supplements.

The inquiry also established that the family lived in isolation from society and did not maintain contact with state authorities. The child had not been officially registered after birth.

The court ruled that the parents’ actions posed a direct threat to the child’s life and health and found them guilty.