A dish of bamboo shoots salad is seen during 2018 Europe-Chengdu Food Culture Festival in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
After being fed a vegan diet, the baby girl developed devastating health issues including seizures, low blood sugar and calcium deficiency.
Now living in the care of others after both parents lost custody, although the child still requires ongoing health treatment, her physical and mental health has now started to improve.
SYDNEY, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The parents of a severely malnourished baby have been spared jail in an Australian court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to the crime of "failing to provide for a child causing danger of serious injury."
After being fed a vegan diet, the baby girl developed devastating health issues including seizures, low blood sugar and calcium deficiency.
Unable to crawl and suffering preventable bone diseases, the child was so malnourished that she did not start growing teeth until 19 months of age when authorities became aware of the situation and started to feed her a "normal diet."
Describing their actions "reckless rather than intentional," Judge Sarah Huggett sentenced the pair to 300 hours of community service, the Australian Associated Press reported.
A baby (not related to this story) drinks milk during the Diaper Derby 2018 in New York, the United States, June 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Lin Bilin)
"It's the responsibility of every parent to ensure the diet they provide children is balanced," Huggett said.
"That responsibility remains a very important one regardless of dietary preferences. There must have been occasions to appreciate (their) daughter was not thriving," she added.
Now living in the care of others after both parents lost custody, although the child still requires ongoing health treatment, her physical and mental health has now started to improve.
