Milk - Whole, 2%, 1% or fat free

[Anonymous]

DC is currently drinking 2% milk. Should he be switched to a nonfat version. I guess, I should probably ask the pediatrictian. He is at a normal weight and has a healthy appetite.

[Anonymous]

How old is your DC?

Our DD is 2yo, avg weight and drinks whole milk.

[Anonymous]

The American Association of Pediatrics, to fight against the obesity epidemic, recommends 2% milk after age 2, if I am not mistaken.

But I find such blanket statements dangerous to apply to everyone. If your child is at a healthy weight compared to his height, and eats a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (and generally unprocessed foods), I think whole milk is an important source of nutrients for your child. A certain amount of fat is vital for brain growth, since neurons are composed mostly of fat!

So please don't stress about which kind of milk you choose, although I would definitely NOT recommend nonfat milk. Again, children need fat.

[Anonymous]

My children (oldest is 5) still drink whole milk. The number of glasses they consume decreased as they're not home as much, but they are active, normal weight/height. I am not going to switch anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the age. They should be on whole milk from age 1-2 because they need the fat for brain development. After that it's just contributing additional saturated fat that isn't really necessary, but probably isn't a big deal unless they are drinking a lot of milk or are overweight. One advantage to switching to low-fat before age 5, though, is to get them used to the taste of a lower fat milk before they go to school. Schools are only required to serve a variety of milk and do not have to have whole milk. Many schools are serving low fat/skim milk due to the push for healthier foods and the obesity epidemic.

[Anonymous]

We do 2%--DS is 4, we like it for our coffee and tea. Makes shopping easier. We are mostly vegetarian, so we don't worry too much about saturated fat consumption.

[Anonymous]

My kids are older (9 and 11) but we drink skim. Pediatrician recommended it once they were over two years old. One DC has a weight issue and the other does not.

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone! My DS is 3 years old. I have contemplated switching him back to whole milk. He is at a healthy weight, but more on the skinny side (very active). He eats healthy foods, but he is not big on carbs which is probably why he is on the leaner side. So maybe the whole milk would actually be better for him.

Thank you everyone for your input. I really appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

whole milk doesn't necessarily equal more calories - evidence suggests that whole milk makes you feel fuller than low-fat, so you may drink more of the latter (or eat more). So in fact, whole milk may be supportive of lower weight.

Children Who Often Drink Full-Fat Milk Weigh Less, Swedish Research Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102347.htm

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the circumstances - each individual child is different.

Whole milk has a lot of saturated fat in it, and that's generally not good for people over the age of 2. We switched to 2% at age 2 and I work with a physician who is very involved in obesity research who says we should be doing skim. So it really depends on many factors.

If my child was very skinny and didn't eat well I would have kept her on whole milk, but since she is a great eater and eats other kinds of healthy fats, she doesn't need the fat or extra calories from whole milk. In a few months we will probably switch to skim, since that is what DH and I drink. FWIW, I did consult my pediatrician, she said at 2 we should switch to reduced fat/2% but again, this will be dependent on the child. And some kids don't drink any milk and are fine, it just depends on the overall diet.

[Anonymous]

My DD is average for her weight and we switched her at 3 years to skim milk like we drink. From age 1 to 2 she was on whole milk, then age 2-3 2% milk. I don't see why she needs saturated fat any longer. She's a good eater and likes cheese and yogurt. Also, I recently found out that skim milk has the most protein in it than the other types of milk.

[Anonymous]

Agree it depends on the overall diet. If there is a child that's underweight and milk is one of the few things that they will consume...then by all means give them whole milk. On the other hand if they are a normal weight, like a variety of foods, and will drink any kind of milk then it's definitely better to give them a low fat milk and things like peanut butter or unstaturated fats instead of the saturated fat in milk. Most kids love cheese too, so they are getting sat fat from that as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:whole milk doesn't necessarily equal more calories - evidence suggests that whole milk makes you feel fuller than low-fat, so you may drink more of the latter (or eat more). So in fact, whole milk may be supportive of lower weight.

Children Who Often Drink Full-Fat Milk Weigh Less, Swedish Research Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102347.htm

I think it really depends on the child's overall diet and level of activity. The thing about this Swedish study is that it was small and I'm sorry to say, the Swedish lifestyle doesn't represent the typical American diet or activity level.

[Anonymous]

My 3 yo boy drinks 2%. He's skinny and we talked to the pedi about it. Our pedi was fine with him staying on whole milk, but 2% is just easier because DH and I can also drink it.

I despise skim milk, and I read a study waaaay back about a link between skim milk and prostate cancer (probably not even legit), so we stick with 2%.

[Anonymous]

Our whole family drinks whole milk. In my opinion the obesity epidemic has nothing whatsoever to do with full-fat dairy, which everyone drank decades ago when there was no obesity epidemic, and everything to do with sugar, sugar, sugar- juice, soda, constant carby snacks, sugar in the peanut butter, sugar in the tomato sauce, sugar in the cereal, and so on. So that's the stuff we don't eat in my house, and we're all of normal weight.