Does more fat in milk equal less fat on children?


Tuesday, 22 November, 2016

Research from Canada has suggested that children who drink whole milk are leaner and have higher vitamin D levels than those who drink low-fat or skim milk.

The researchers studied 2745 children aged two to six years. They surveyed parents, measured height and weight to calculate BMI and took blood samples to assess vitamin D levels. The study, which has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that children who drank whole (3.25% fat content) milk had a body mass index (BMI) score that was 0.72 units lower than those who drank 1 or 2% milk.

That’s comparable to the difference between having a healthy weight and being overweight, said lead author Dr Jonathon Maguire, a paediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada.

The study did not assess why consuming higher fat content milk was associated with a lower BMI score, but Dr Maguire hypothesised that children who drank whole milk felt fuller than those who drank the same amount of low-fat or skim milk, and were therefore less likely to eat other foods that are less healthy or higher in kilojoules. Therefore, children who drink lower fat milk may actually consume more kilojoules overall than those who drink whole milk.

The study also found that children who drank one cup of whole milk each day had comparable vitamin D levels to those who drank nearly 3 cups of 1% milk. This could be because vitamin D is fat soluble, meaning it dissolves in fat rather than water. Milk with higher fat content therefore contains more vitamin D. There may also be an inverse relationship in children between body fat and vitamin D stores, according to the study; as children’s body fat increases, their vitamin D stores decrease.

“Children who drink lower fat milk don’t have less body fat, and they also don’t benefit from the higher vitamin D levels in whole milk,” said Dr Maguire. “It’s a double negative with low fat milk.”

The study’s findings differ from Health Canada, National Institutes of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Australian Dietary Guidelines, which all recommend low-fat milk for children over the age of two to reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

Dr Maguire said the findings indicated a need to closely examine existing nutritional guidelines around milk fat consumption to make sure they are having the desired effect. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years, while consumption of whole milk has halved over the same period.

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