Parents who enforce a vegan or vegetarian diet on their children in Italy could soon be jailed for up to four years.
Proposed new laws would make it an offence to deprive children of the nutrients essential for their growth.
Elvira Savino, from Italy’s centre-right Forza Party, says her bill would prevent “radicalised” diets being imposed on youngsters.
The country has been rocked in recent months by a series of child hospitalisations caused by vegan diets.
Last month, a 14-month-old baby was taken to hospital with the expected weight of a three-month-old.
It emerged he had been subjected to a vegan diet, leaving him dangerously malnourished and with low calcium levels.
