Feeding toddlers low-fat milk does nothing to prevent them putting on weight – and may contribute to them getting plumper, researchers warn today.
Experts say depriving children of fatty milk may simply lead them to seek less healthy foods to satisfy their appetites.
The findings, reported in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, challenge professional advice in the USA aimed at cutting child obesity rates.
Researchers found that high proportions of obese children were restricted to skimmed or semi-skimmed milk – 14% of two-year-olds compared with just 9% of normal weight two-year-olds.
The findings come from a study tracking nearly 11,000 families in the USA.
The researchers found that two year olds that were not overweight but drank skimmed milk were 57% more likely than others to put on excess weight by the age of four.
Mark Daniel DeBoer, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, writes: "Rather than recommending low fat milk, it may be better to stick with other weight control options for which the evidence is sound, such as cutting down on TV watching and sugary drinks, and increasing exercise and fruit and vegetable intake."
Longitudinal evaluation of milk type consumed and weight status in pre-schoolers Archives of Disease in Childhood 19 March 2013; doi 10.1136/archdischild-2012-302941 [abstract]
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