Malnourished baby dies after parents fed him gluten-free diet

A seven-month-old baby weighing just over four kilograms has died following reports his parents fed him a gluten-free diet.

The baby named Lucas was taken to hospital in the Belgian city of Hasselt after a doctor urged his parents Peter S, 34, and Sandrina V, 30 to seek immediate help.

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Both parents ran a natural food store and are said to have diagnosed their baby as gluten-intolerant as well as lactose intolerant.

This saw them feeding the baby a restricted diet, with quinoa milk said to be one of his main sources of nutrients.

The tragic death took place in 2014, with an autopsy revealing the baby’s stomach was empty amid reports Lucas had been gasping for breath in the days previously.

He weighed just over four kilos, with the Baby Center website citing a standard weight for a seven-month-old being 6.7 to 10.2 kilograms.

The trial against his parents starts this week, with Belgian prosecutors seeking an 18-month jail sentence.

Lawyer for the parents Karine Van Meirvenne claims her clients thought their son had an eating problem, according to the Daily Mail.

“Lucas had an eating disorder. He got cramps when he was fed with a bottle and his parents tried out alternatives,” said Karine.

“Oat milk, rice milk, buckwheat milk, semolina milk, quinoa milk. All products which they also sell in their store.”

However experts say these kinds of milk are ‘unsuitable’ for infants.

“These kinds of milk, which you can buy in a supermarket, do not contain the necessary proteins, minerals and vitamins,” Elisabeth De Greef from the University Hospital of Brussels told the Mail.

'They are not adjusted to infants and thus unsuitable.'

It’s not the first reported case of malnutrition arising from parents feeding their children alternative diets.

A 14-month-old baby in Italy was removed from his parents last year after a vegan diet left him weighing slightly more than a three-month-old.

A Pennsylvania woman was charged last October with endangering the welfare of a child after practicing extreme veganism, and feeding her baby only small amounts of nuts and berries.

In 2007, an Atlanta couple were convicted of murder after the death of their son after he was fed a diet of soy milk and apple juice.

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