A couple of vegans convicted of causing malnutrition to their baby with their diets

An Australian couple who subjected her baby to a strict vegan diet that left her severely malnourished was sentenced to 18 months in prison. If they avoid going to jail, they will have to do some community work.

The couple in their thirties, which we can not name, fed the daughter of a diet consisting of oats, potatoes, toast and rice, among other foods. The girl, now three years old, was so malnourished that she seemed to be three months old when she was 19 years old.

Judge Sarah Huggett criticized the parents for putting the girl on a "totally inappropriate" diet. "The girl is severely malnourished, her weight is inadequate and her height is smaller than she deserves, and her age is delayed," he said.

"I could not talk or feed"

The girl was hospitalized in March 2018 when her mother called emergency services after an epileptic seizure.

It was at that time that it was discovered that she was severely malnourished. According to the Associated Press of Australia, he had blue lips, cold feet and hands, low blood sugar and low muscle tone.

The family member who received her in foster care, after she was removed from her parents' care, stated that the baby was "behind other children" .

Judge Hugget said that in the beginning, parents "were not able to accept that their daughter's state of health was due to malnutrition." He added that the couple, who have two other children raised without causing harm, was "neither too young nor uneducated".

He added that the mother was suffering from a slight depression at that time and that she had "become more and more obsessed" by her beliefs, including her vegan diet. He also blamed the father for doing nothing at all in the face of his daughter's state of health.

The parents appeared for the first time in court last May, pleading guilty to failing to support their daughter and causing serious injuries.

Each of them was sentenced to 18 months in jail and 300 hours of community service. Although they keep in intermittent contact with their children, they lost custody.