Can't find resources on babies drinking skim milk

[Clarity]

Specifically that European babies do not drink whole milk, and why. I know I've read it elsewhere, we've talked about it here before too. However, I cannot find a reliable resource to send to my daycare director. We were having a convo about milk after the new strict requirements regarding milk substitutions and I wanted to show her the info. Can anyone help me look?

[daisymommy]

So, were you wanting your babies to drink skim milk--or not? And are there new guidelines that go in opposition to your preference? Maybe if I better understood I could help dig up the info. for you :)

[Clarity]

No, no. My 4yo does drink skim, and my 2yo has a milk allergy. She drinks coconut milk.

State supported centers are now requiring medical forms to subsitute soy, almond, rice, coconut, hemp (etc.) milks for mandated cow's milk. She and I were talking about it from the perspective that I thought this regulation is particularly BAD in that people don't abuse "milk substituting". Typically substitutions are more expensive, harder to find so people subsitute for a REASON.

She followed that with a comment about how some parents want to substitute 1% or skim for their "chubby" babies and how bad that was and I told her about what I'd read regarding European practices. Which was, I think, that Europeans actually do not give their babies whole milk, but transition from the breast or formula to a reduced milkfat milk. She hadn't ever heard that I and I just wanted to send her a link so she could she I wasn't making it up!

[Dr C]

Not much help here, other than I have done a rather extensive literature search and have not been able to find any data to support the notion that toddlers under age 1 should be fed whole milk to support "brain development." Kids do certainly need some fat... but I would argue that most American kids get plenty of fat in their diets so drinking lower fat milk shouldn't be that big of a deal. But I can't show you any data that proves that approach is safe either. My motivation to serve lower fat milk is simple--I don't want to buy two containers of milk at the grocery store.
I fed DS whole milk when he turned 1 because he was super-skinny... like off the charts skinny and 75% for height, and I figured he needed the calories. But for DD, who has the usual baby rolls... I have no idea what I'm going to do. Probably whole milk for a few months and then gradually transition to skim which is what the rest of us drink.
Will be watching this thread! Anybody else have some hard data??

[swissair81]

Interesting you say that. My DH's grandfather is a physician in Europe & he thinks I'm nuts that I give my kids skim milk. He said that skim milk has all the nutrients filtered out.

I was under the impression though, that it was recommended to give 2% milk to babies under 2, because the fat is crucial to brain development (or something like that). After 2, they recommend lower fat milk. Even if it isn't true, my ds (age 22 months) is barely 12% for weight. He could use a little bit of fat.

[Clarity]

Just to clarify, I'm speaking strictly of children above 1 year old. All babies younger than that should be breastfed or given an appropriate formula subsitute. I was contrasting our US practice of giving 1-2 yr olds whole milk vs what I think is the European practice of giving them reduced fat milk. Just can't find that written anywhere.....maybe it isn't really happening?

[bigpassport]

Here is something from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It says babies under 2 years should not be given lowfat or skim milk. In fact, it says that babies up to 2 years old should get 50% of their calories from fat.

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/pages/Low-Fat-Diets-For-Babies.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token

[Clarity]

Here is something from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It says babies under 2 years should not be given lowfat or skim milk. In fact, it says that babies up to 2 years old should get 50% of their calories from fat.

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/pages/Low-Fat-Diets-For-Babies.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token


Oh, yes, we are well versed in US recommendations, but thank you for digging around for me. :) I'm trying to find documentation of European recommendations.

[bigpassport]

LOL. No wonder that was so easy to find:duh:

[Clarity]

Hmm, this is a start, but I can't access it. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/106/5/S2/1302

[daisymommy]

Vitamins A & D are in the milk fat. When the fat is removed, the FDA requires that synthetic vitamins be added back in. I think we all know that real-food vitamins are more readily absorbed and used by the body than synthetic (fake) ones. But Vitamins A and D are fat-soluble; that means they cannot be absorbed into the body unless they're taken in with fat.

Our bodies cannot digest the protein or absorb the calcium from milk without the fat either.

Milk fat also contains glycosphingolipids, which are fats that encourage cell metabolism and growth and fight gastrointestinal infections.

The butter fat in whole milk has fatty acids and nutrients that are not as concentrated in low fat milk.

My babies get whole milk, and we drink 2% milk.

[egoldber]

In many parts of Europe, toddler or "follow on" formula is very popular and routinely recommended for children between the ages of 1 and 2. So I think it is less of an issue there.

[ncat]

I would love to know! I'd like to give both kids 2% and have a single jug in the fridge.

My parents started me and my younger brother on skim milk at 1 year, after we were weaned. This was apparently on the advice of our pediatrician. We did not have weight issues, but were solid kids. We both grew up fine, but I think the early 70s US diet may have been higher in fat.

As far as Europe goes, when I was an exchange student in high school in Germany, I could not find skim milk. My host family thought that I was strange for drinking any sort of milk in appreciable quantities as a teenager and couldn't understand why I would want milk without fat. I had to reassure them that it was what I was used to drinking, and I did indeed like whipped cream and other tasty milkfat containing dessert items!

[swissair81]

www.euro.who.int/document/WS_115_2000FE.pdf?language=German

[Clarity]

Maybe it's wrong then? Interesting. Here's another BBB post on the topic, from 2008:
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=286914

[Tondi G]

I don't have any literature but my pediatrician told me to put my DS on 2% milk when he was a year and then on to skim milk when he was maybe 18 months or so. He is a heavy kiddo and didn't need the extra fat. My Ped told me that whole milk isn't necessary when a child is eating a well rounded diet and getting enough fat/nutrient intake. In poorer parts of the country and world many children get the highest amount of fat,calories and nutrients in their diet from the cows milk that they drink.... thus the blanket recommendation for whole milk for babies over one year of age.

I have no clue if there is a different recommendation in Europe.

[BayGirl2]

I have only heard the "whole milk at one unless your doctor tells you otherwise" rule. I remember hearing that reduced fat milk may be suggested for 1 year olds with a family history of obesity or with similar issues. I can't think of where I read this, but I know I read it somewhere. Sorry, not that helpful in finding your link, but yes, I think it does happen that Dr's recommend reduced fat in some cases.

[klwa]

I know our ped told us he prefers 2% from 1-2 now, and he's German. Don't know if his European background has anything to do with that recommendation or not. (I kept DD on whole milk which I had DS on when he was that age, since that was the rec from the same practice 3 years earlier.)

[daisymommy]

I personally find it sad that our ultra-low fat American diet mantra is now making it's way down to even our infants.

a Swedish study has found that women who regularly consume at least one serving of full-fat dairy every day gained about 30 percent less weight than women who didn’t. The researchers report that a regular and constant intake of whole milk, sour milk and cheese was significantly and inversely associated with weight gain (that is, those consuming whole-milk products did not gain weight), while the other intake groups were not. A constant intake of at least one daily serving of whole and sour milk was associated with 15 percent less weight gain, while cheese was associated with 30 percent less weight gain (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007;84(6):1481-1488).

The researchers found that women who ate two or more servings of lowfat dairy foods per day, particularly skim milk and yogurt, increased their risk of ovulation-related infertility by more than 85 percent compared with women who ate less than one serving of lowfat dairy food per week (Human Reproduction, online February 28, 2007).

It's the hydrogenated & trans fats to be worried about. The white flour and sugar. Not the fat from healthy, naturally raised animals which is a nutrient carrier. The CLA (a type of Omega-3 fat) is only in the milk fat. Strip that out, and you are tossing out the nutrients too.

Published recently in the British Journal of Nutrition, the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial showed that 12-weeks of supplementation with the CLA-rich milk led to significant reductions in fat mass in the trunk (torso) area of the body.

The researchers, led by Amalia Lafuente, report that consumption of CLA-rich milk was associated with a significant three per cent reduction of body fat mass in overweight subjects, while no significant fat loss was found in the obese volunteers or in either group taking the placebo.

(Note: this study was done with skim milk where they added back in CLA to compensate for what was being removed with the fat. This milk is not available here in the US.)

(CLA) increases metabolic rate, immunity to diseases and muscle growth. It also reduces abdominal fat, cholesterol, and allergic reactions. It is worth noting that human body cannot produce this substance and most of our CLA intake happens through the milk products that we consume.

[Clarity]

I personally find it sad that our ultra-low fat American diet mantra is now making it's way down to even our infants.

a Swedish study has found that women who regularly consume at least one serving of full-fat dairy every day gained about 30 percent less weight than women who didn’t. The researchers report that a regular and constant intake of whole milk, sour milk and cheese was significantly and inversely associated with weight gain (that is, those consuming whole-milk products did not gain weight), while the other intake groups were not. A constant intake of at least one daily serving of whole and sour milk was associated with 15 percent less weight gain, while cheese was associated with 30 percent less weight gain (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007;84(6):1481-1488).

The researchers found that women who ate two or more servings of lowfat dairy foods per day, particularly skim milk and yogurt, increased their risk of ovulation-related infertility by more than 85 percent compared with women who ate less than one serving of lowfat dairy food per week (Human Reproduction, online February 28, 2007).

It's the hydrogenated & trans fats to be worried about. The white flour and sugar. Not the fat from healthy, naturally raised animals which is a nutrient carrier. The CLA (a type of Omega-3 fat) is only in the milk fat. Strip that out, and you are tossing out the nutrients too.

Published recently in the British Journal of Nutrition, the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial showed that 12-weeks of supplementation with the CLA-rich milk led to significant reductions in fat mass in the trunk (torso) area of the body.

The researchers, led by Amalia Lafuente, report that consumption of CLA-rich milk was associated with a significant three per cent reduction of body fat mass in overweight subjects, while no significant fat loss was found in the obese volunteers or in either group taking the placebo.

(Note: this study was done with skim milk where they added back in CLA to compensate for what was being removed with the fat. This milk is not available here in the US.)

(CLA) increases metabolic rate, immunity to diseases and muscle growth. It also reduces abdominal fat, cholesterol, and allergic reactions. It is worth noting that human body cannot produce this substance and most of our CLA intake happens through the milk products that we consume.


Amy, Just clarifying - I am not making the argument that babies SHOULD drink reduced fat milk. I merely responded to a comment my daycare director made about how inappropriate it was that some parents wanted to send in reduced fat milk. I was tempering her concern with what I had thought was reasoned information about a society that does things differently, for health reasons, or so I thought. Now, however, I think I might actually be wrong and that Europe does NOT do that. I just cannot recall where I read that first to get that impression. I'm nearly certain that it was not here.
So anyhow, yes, I myself gave dd1 whole milk until she was 2. She's actually on skim milk now. The information that you've offered was really interesting, I might look more into that and reconsider what dd1, dh and I drink. But I will add that as a mother of a thriving dairy allergic 2yr old, it is entirely unnecessary to drink milk at all. It's just very convenient.

[ezcc]

This doesn't answer the question at all, but since it has come up I'll just chime in that I grew up drinking skim milk, but after reading nourishing traditions and other information about not altering the nutritional value of milk I switched to whole. We buy non-homogenized from a local farm that delivers. Since I made this switch (a year and a half ago) not one of us has gotten so much as a cold. My weight has stayed constant and both of my children have a great body weight (dd (5) has slimmed down as she has gotten older, ds (7) is skinny and has stayed that way). My completely unscientific theory is that the vitamin d in whole milk is superior, and that our immune systems have benefited from this. Just my experience, but I thought I would share it in case others want to look into this more.

[Dream]

Interesting topic. DD's 2 and I'm planning on keeping her on wholemilk. But lot of people have asked me why I haven't switched to Skim milk and I never had a good answer. Now I know. Thank you for posting.

[daisymommy]

Deleted. Posted a link, but it was broken.

[chottumommy]

Non-homogenized whole milk according to me definitely has lots of benefits. We as a family only drink non-homogenized whole milk. For us I remove the fat on top and make butter so we sort don't drink all the fat part of milk but for DS who is 22 months, he gets the whole milk with the fat. He only drinks about 12 oz of milk but loves it.

I don't believe in the skim milk concept, at the same time we donot drink too much milk. Only about 8 oz a day. I buy a gallon of milk for the 3 of us for a week and a half gallon to make yogurt at home.

Never had a problem with weight (both DH and I are very lean) because of milk.