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by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

When a baby in a vegan household can’t be breastfed or needs a supplement to breast milk, a commercial soy protein-based infant formula should be used. Homemade formulas or plant milks are not nutritionally adequate for babies and should not be used.

Some may wonder how babies given commercial soy protein-based formulas fare.

A recently published study (1) examined long-term outcomes of children and teens who had been given soy protein-based formula as infants compared to those given cows milk baby formula or breast milk. It’s not obvious if any of the breastfed or soy formula-fed infants were from vegan families.

What is the study?

This study was conducted in Arkansas where 600 infants were enrolled in the study when they were between 1 and 2 months old. A third of the infants were being breastfed, a third were being given soy protein-based formula, and a third were being given cow milk-based formula. The babies were studied until they were 6 years old. Almost 200 of the original participants agreed to participate in a follow-up study when they were 14-years old. Study participants’ growth and development, body composition, bone health, and reproductive system health were examined (1).

What did this study find?

A main finding of this study was that children and teens who received soy formula or cow milk-based formula as infants were not markedly different in terms of growth and development, bone health, and reproductive system health. Children who were breastfed as infants had a lower BMI than formula fed children. Adolescents who were breastfed as infants had a lower waist circumference than did those who were fed cow milk formula (1).

The results of this study suggest that no adverse effects of soy formula were seen in terms of growth, development, bone health, or reproductive health (1).

Reference:

1. da Cruz LL, Shlisky J, Bellando BJ, et al. Longitudinal evaluation from birth to adolescence of soy protein-based infant formula compared with cow milk-based formula and breastfeeding: A comprehensive summary of findings. Adv Nutr. 2026;17:100669.

For more information about infant formula and about feeding vegan babies see:

Feeding Vegan Kids

Homemade Baby Formula is Not Recommended

FDA Provides Updated Information on Infant Formula

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