Here is a question that is on my mind..."What is healthy food for my girls?" I want to feed my family so that we are all eating healthy foods and getting the nutrients that we need. But on the flip side, I don't want to give too much food so that my girls would learn bad eating habits and be overweight. This is a concern of mine because I have "Battled the Bulge" my whole life. One specific thing that I have been reading up on is milk intake for toddlers. When Mikayla turned one, we started her on whole milk. Now she is 19 months and I want to know whether switching to a lower fat milk would be appropriate at this age. Here are a few things that I found on the subject (i do plan on talking to her doctor about it but I wanted to see what I could find on my own):
- Our pediatrician told us to give whole milk until age 2, 2% until age 5, 1% or nonfat after that. The fat is definitely important to neurological development, but there is evidence that fat build-ups in the arteries that may, eventually, lead to problems much later in life can show up as early as 2 years of age in babies whose family history leads to a very strong genetic risk for heart disease. So just be sensible about fat intake -- dont go overboard with restrictions, but don't allow unrestricted access, either. -- Lauren (Berkeley.edu)
- Whole milk is recommended for children up to 2 years of age. It is crucial for growth and proper development. I work in the Food Service Department at Children's Hospital, and I also am a graduate student of nutrition. Tw (Berkeley.edu)
- QUESTION "we are starting to introduce her (one year old daughter) to cow's milk. My wife and I disagree on the fat content that is best for our daughter. I have heard that fat helps in the development of the brain and other systems, and my wife is worried about having an obese child. We are both slim, and our daughter is about 50th percentile in weight. Should we use whole milk or reduced fat?" ANSWER Please don't give your 1-year old lowfat milk! Your wife is wrong and you are right that kids need the fat for brain development, etc. It's essential. You can start her on lowfat or nonfat milk when she's 2, but not before! Here's a quote from the Web site BabyCenter http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/9147.html After your child is 1 year old, you can start giving her whole milk to drink (no low- or nonfat milk until she's 2, though). Here's a quote from the health site My Life Path http://www.mylifepath.com/topic/primer/skinnykids#0 (A caution for parents with infants: Fat is a critical nutrient for brain development in the first two years of life, so infants should never been placed on a fat-restricted diet. Breast milk is very high in fat, as is infant formula. It's important never to substitute low-fat or skim milk in the first two years of life.) Ask your doctor -- he or she will tell you the same thing. If your wife is worried about obesity, she should focus on limiting the junk food, avoid taking your child to fast-food places, offer healthy snacks, and limit the juice. Don't use juice boxes. It just fills her up on empty calories. If you must give juice, dilute it by half. Don't let her get accustomed to full-on juice. And of course encourage your daughter to run around and be active. (Berkeley.edu)
- Whole milk is a good option for toddlers over age 12 months who aren't breastfeeding and who aren't drinking a toddler formula. According to the AAP, in their Guide To Your Child's Nutrition, these 'young children need calories from fat for growth and brain development,' and 'this is especially important in the first 2 years of life.' (about.com/pediatrics)
There was a TON of stuff online about this subject. It seems to be pretty unanimous on the topic of whole milk vs. skim milk. I still want to talk to her doctor but after reading through the stuff that I found it seems like I should keep giving her whole milk. One thing that I read that I was surprised to hear was that an important benefit of whole milk is to help brain development. I always thought it was just for physical development.
If anyone read through this entire post I hope you found it as interesting as I did. Also, if anyone else has comments on this topic please feel free to add a comment or even email me.
3 comments:
Good food for thought Bean. I'll talk to some of the young Mothers here to see what milk they give their children. They have funny boxed milk here and very small glass bottles of milk here. But I have never seen a gallon of milk of any kind here.
sly mom
Good stuff to know. I'll have to look into Soy Milk vs. Whole milk since that is what I use. I've wondered about quantity of food eaten...even if it is good food. Ryan would probably eat a whole bag of grapes in a day if I let him!
Hey Jeanna- it's Katy Ramsay (Stirland) you must have been reading my mind because I have been thinking a lot on this lately. Our little girl, Ava is 18 months old and weighs about 30 lbs. Needless to say, she is about the 90th percentile for weight (and luckily height too) I have always felt like we have done a good job at feeding her healthy, but have wondered lately if we are giving her too much fruit and if she should drink 2% instead of whole milk. This is what I concluded. I thought to myself that just because she is big now, doesn't at all mean that she will always be. I too have battled the bulge my whole life and it is important to me to teach Ava the best habits I can. I think when kids are toddlers as long as you hold off as much as you can on refined sugar,juices, and other things that have no nutritional value- their little bodies will grow how the are meant to. I also talked to my doctor about the whole milk thing and she said to keep her on it, also due to the fact that kids brains need the fat. Hope this helps :)
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