If parliamentarian Elvira Savino has her way, Italian parents who insist on a vegan diet for their children will risk up to four years in jail.

Savino, from the conservative Forza Italia party, has put forward a law that would hold parents legally responsible for feeding their children on “a diet devoid of elements essential for healthy and balanced growth.”

“I have nothing against vegans or veganism as long as it is a free choice by adults,” she said earlier this month, after presenting the proposed law in the lower house Chamber of Deputies.

“I just find it absurd that some parents are allowed to impose their will on children in an almost fanatical, religious way, often without proper scientific knowledge or medical consultation,” she said.

Some pediatricians advise against feeding children on a vegan diet, which they say can lack sufficient nutrition.

Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry and vegans also do not eat animal products such as eggs and dairy foods.

The law proposes jail sentences of a year for raising a child on a vegan diet, up to four years if the child develops a permanent health problem and up to seven years if the child dies as a result.

It would apply to children under 16 and penalties would increase by a year if the child is under 3.

Savino, 39, who has a 7-year-old son and who eats meat “but not too much,” said she proposed the law after being shocked by several recent incidents in Italy.

Last month in the northern city of Milan, doctors determined that a 1-year-old boy who was taken to a hospital had the weight of a 3-month-old because of a vegan diet. In 2015, an Italian court ordered a divorced mother to stop raising her 12-year-old son on a vegan diet after the boy’s father filed a complaint that it was stunting his growth.

The draft will be discussed by parliamentary committees before it goes to the floor for debate.

若意大利国会议员萨维诺的提案通过，坚持让孩子吃纯素的父母将面临长达四年的监禁。保守派的意大利力量党议员萨维诺提出了一项法案，法案规定没有为子女提供健康平衡膳食的父母将负法律责任。

在意大利众议院提出该法案后，她本月早些时候表示：“我并不反对素食者及素食主义，只要这是成年人自己的选择。”

她说：“我发现有些家长用近乎狂热的传教方式将自己的意愿强加给孩子，不听从正确的科学指导，也没有咨询过医生的建

议，这着实荒唐。”

一些儿科医生提议不要让孩子吃纯素，因为只摄入素食会让孩子缺乏足够的营养。素食者不吃肉、鱼、禽类，而纯素食者甚至不食用诸如鸡蛋和奶制品等动物产品。

萨维诺提出的法案规定，以纯素食喂养孩子将面临一年的监禁。如果孩子因此出现长期健康问题，父母要坐牢长达四年。如果孩子最终因此死亡，父母面临的刑期将长达七年。该法案将适用于16岁以下儿童的父

母，若孩子三岁以下，刑期再追加一年。

39岁的萨维诺是一个七岁男孩的母

亲，孩子吃肉并不多。最近在意大利发生的几起令人震惊的吃素儿童事件让她提出这一法案。

上个月在意大利北部城市米兰，一位到医院看病的一岁男童体重只相当于三个月大的婴儿，医生诊断这是由于父母只给他吃素造成的。

2015年，在一位父亲的申诉下，意大利一家法院下令要求一位单亲母亲停止让12岁的儿子吃纯素，因为影响孩子的身体发育。

该提案将在议会委员会讨论后进入议会辩论。(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【纯素食者】chún sùshí zhě vegan a vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet

    【狂热的】kuángrè de fanatical motivated or characterized by an extreme, uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics