Even before her quintuplets were conceived, Florida's Gayle Nelson Folkersen knew she didn't want her kids eating meat, fish, eggs or dairy products.

A committed vegan since age 16, Nelson Folkersen said she values both the nutritional benefits of the strict vegetarian diet and its lessons in compassion and kindness toward animals.

But in an unusual custody battle, the father of the 10-year-old quintuplets is seeking primary residential custody, charging that Nelson Folkersen has "serious psychological control issues" and won't let her children eat animal products.

The real issue isn't what they eat, as long as they're not malnourished. The courts will decide the case this month based on which parent can provide a stable and healthy environment.

But as the divorce petition suggests, the notion that a vegan diet is dangerous for children still exists, even though it has been shown that children can thrive without meat or dairy products. In fact, proper vegetarian diets have substantial health benefits and are appropriate for people at all stages of life, including pregnancy, lactation, childhood and adolescence, according to the American Dietetic Association.

Vegetarian diets are lower in saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein and have higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium folate, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. They can reduce the risk of diabetes, some cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Vegetarians have been shown to have lower body mass indexes than non-vegetarians, as well as lower blood pressure, hypertension and blood cholesterol levels.

"With tenacity and proper planning, a vegan diet can meet the needs of 10-year-olds," said registered dietitian Dave Grotto, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. His 13-year-old daughter is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, meaning she does not eat meat or seafood but will consume eggs and dairy products.

The first step for any parent is to get educated, something Nelson Folkersen recommended in a 2003 interview with Doh Driver in Veg Family Magazine.

"It's different than nutrition for adults," she said. "Keep literature in regards to feeding vegan and vegetarian infants, toddlers, and children on hand to refer to frequently, and keep yourself updated. (This) includes knowing about genetically modified foods, irradiated foods, foods filled with pesticides, antibiotics and the benefits of organic foods."

The most common potential problems for vegetarians include a reduced intake of iron, calcium and vitamin B-12. Grotto, who advocates plant-based foods but doesn't believe vegan diets are optimal for children because they require constant monitoring, recommends taking a multivitamin that contains iron and zinc as a safety net. But even this is tricky because certain compounds can decrease iron and zinc absorption.

"If a vegan takes an iron supplement, it should be between meals, not with meals," said ADA spokeswoman and registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner. Most 10-year-olds are going to get their zinc and iron through the plethora of fortified foods available, but combining vitamin C-rich foods (strawberries, red bell peppers, oranges) with foods high in iron (Cream of Wheat cereal, grains, beans, spinach and nuts) can enhance iron absorption, Grotto said.

Calcium can be obtained through tofu, dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, kale, blackstrap molasses, beans, figs, sunflower seeds, fortified soy milk, tahini and almond butter.

And though vegetarian sources of B-12 — nutritional yeast, algae, miso and tempeh — aren't that appealing to most children, it's also in fortified cold cereal and soymilk and nutritional supplements.

Nelson Folkersen ensured that her five vegan children were properly fed as infants by giving them breast milk for a year and switching to fortified soymilk at 13 months.

One of the rewards, she has said, was knowing that her children weren't ingesting pesticides, chemicals and hormones. Another was raising children who are "growing into compassionate human beings who care about other living beings and the environment."