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. 

 

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。

 

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 devoid¹ 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 told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday, days after she presented the proposed law in the lower house Chamber² 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. 

 

"Do-it-yourself on these matters terrorizes me."

 

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 three.

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