Skimmed Milk Does Not Curb Toddler Obesity

Drinking skimmed or semi-skimmed milk does not prevent toddlers from gaining excess weight, finds study.

Researchers trawled through data from a long-term probe into the health of 10,700 children born in 2001.

Mantra to Prevent Childhood Obesity - Vigorous Physical Activity
Being physically very active is the mantra to prevent pediatric obesity rather than concentrating efforts at restricting energy consumption.

Parents or caregivers were asked about milk consumption when the infant was two and were questioned again two years later, when the child was again weighed and measured.

Overweight or obesity was widespread: 30.1 percent of the children at two years fell into this category, rising to 32.2 percent at the age of four.

But children who were overweight or obese were likelier to drink skimmed milk or semi-skimmed milk, which has one-percent butterfat, than counterparts of normal weight, the probe found.

Height and Weight for Children
The height and weight calculator is a useful tool to ascertain the ideal height and weight of the children according to age and gender.

Low-fat or fat-free milk was consumed by 14 percent of heavy two-year-olds and 16 percent of heavy four-year-olds.

This compared with nine percent of normal-weight two-year-olds and 13 percent of normal-weight four-year-olds.

Quiz on Obesity

“We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are”. - Adelle Davis

There are thousands out there battling ‘the bulge’. With childhood obesity on the rise even children are not spared. If your weight issues are threatening to weigh you down learn more about obesity by taking part in this quiz.

Kids who drank full-fat milk, which has a 3.5-percent fat component, or reduced-fat milk, which has two-percent fat, also tended to weigh less than counterparts who drank skimmed or semi-skimmed.

US health watchdogs -- the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association -- recommend that all children drink skimmed or semi-skimmed milk after the age of two to reduce intake of saturated fat.

Types of Milk - Welcome to the world of milk
Encyclopedia section of medindia gives a general info about Welcome to the world of milk

The study says that the logic behind this recommendation is to reduce consumption of calories and thus prevent weight gain.

But the reality could be more complex, it cautions.

Milk fat may increase a sense of fullness, thus reducing craving for fatty or calorie-rich foods, the authors argue.

Obesity fighters, they argue, should look at other sources of weight control, "such as decreased television viewing, increased physical activity and decreased juice and sugar-sweetened beverage intake, as well as a focus on non-Western diets with higher vegetable content."

The paper, published on Monday in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, was led by Mark DeBoer at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Source-AFP