Low-Fat Milk Can Be a Healthy Choice
for Toddlers
For babies ready to graduate from breast
milk or formula to cow's milk, the longstanding recommendation
has been that they receive whole milk, instead of reduced-fat or
fat-free milk.
But new guidelines from the
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
now advise parents of toddlers who are overweight or obese, or
those who have a family history of obesity, high cholesterol, or
cardiovascular disease, to switch to reduced-fat milk between
ages one and two years.
The new guidelines in the medical journal
Pediatrics are part of a long list
of new recommendations aimed at keeping children's cholesterol
levels down to protect their long-term heart health.
"If you read the guidelines, the
AAP has definitely changed their
idea on this," says nutritionist Ann Condon-Meyers, of the
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "They're saying if you're
between 12 months and 12 years, and you have certain risk
factors, the use of reduced-fat milk would be appropriate."
That is a departure from previous thinking
that held that whole milk, and the fat it contains, was
essential to the proper development of a baby's brain,
especially since milk is such a major component of the toddler
diet.
Condon-Meyers says past recommendations
were not based on evidence from studies, but developed more from
experience and common sense.
Breast milk is high in cholesterol, she
explains, and babies fed breast milk have good cholesterol
levels - not high, but not low either.
One likely reason that nature provides a
reasonable amount of fat in breast milk is that fat is vital to
the development of the myelin sheath in the brain, says
Condon-Meyers.
"That's why we worry about children not
receiving enough whole fat," she explains.
Whole milk contains between 3.5 percent and
3.8 percent fat, while reduced-fat milk contains 2 percent fat,
according to Condon-Meyers, who adds that the term reduced-fat
is synonymous with 2 percent.
The reason reduced-fat milk should be fine
for kids who are overweight or obese, or have family risk
factors such as high cholesterol, is that they will still be
getting some fat in the milk, and they may already have
sufficient levels of fat in their bodies.
Condon-Meyers says she would want to
carefully evaluate the diet of a child who is a vegetarian
because cow's milk may be his or her best source of saturated
fat, and children need a small amount of saturated fat to
develop properly.
"Our research on children and cholesterol
is definitely in its childhood phase. It's really a work in
progress," she adds.
After age two, parents should start giving
toddlers whatever milk the rest of the family drinks, and at
that time, even skim (fat-free) milk is fine, Condon-Meyers
says.
"Provided it's not the mainstay of a
child's diet, children can make the transition to low-fat or
skim milk, regardless of other risk factors," she says.
Always consult your physician for more
information.