I have been seeing more articles stating that the number or young vegetarians is on the rise, like this article from msnbc.
This article suggests 1 in 200 kids is vegetarian, but other surveys suggest the rate could be 4 to 6 times that among older teens who have more control over what they eat than young children do.
Interestingly, the main reason teens are going vegetarian is compassion for the animals. Youth are seeing videos of animals slaughter houses and are repulsed by the cruelty. This give me great hope for the future. If the rising generation is increasingly becoming aware of the tragic situations of the animals in the factory farms, then change will follow. Not to mention the increase in health for these young people.
Unfortunately, it seems a lot of teens are getting flak from their peers for their choice to become vegetarians. As vegetarian becomes more mainstream hopefully some of these peer pressures will ease and the benefits of being vegetarian will be more widely understood and appreciated.
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