A new study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, a sister publication of the British Medical Journal, reports that low-fat milk is associated with higher weight in preschoolers. Kids drinking low-fat milk tend to be heavier than those drinking whole milk. Kids drinking skim milk were found to be the fattest of all.
The findings call into serious question the long-held recommendation of pediatricians that parents switch children to low-fat milk at age 2 in order to reduce the risk of weight problems.
It seems this misguided pediatric advice is producing the exact opposite of what was intended.
This large study of 10,700 preschoolers involved interviewing the parents when the children were 2 years old and again at 4 years old. The researchers took direct measurements of each child’s height and weight in order to accurately calculate BMI (body mass index) at both ages.
Researchers found that the kids who drank skim (1%) milk had the highest body fat regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
The 2% milk-drinking children had the next highest BMI (body mass index) followed by the whole milk-drinking children who were the leanest of all.
Dr. Mark DeBoer said in an email to NPR that he and his co-author Dr. Rebecca Scharf, both of the University of Virginia, were “quite surprised” by the findings as they had hypothesized just the opposite.
Dr. DeBoer added that the data also indicates that the use of low-fat milk did not restrain weight gain in preschoolers over time. Â He speculated that if you feel fuller after drinking full-fat milk, “it may be protective if the other food options are high in calories.”
In other words, drinking a glass of whole milk for dinner instead of low-fat or skim milk may prevent a child from eating an extra cookie or two later.
Two Other Studies Indicate Lowfat and Skim Milk Make Kids Fatter
This is not the first study indicating that low-fat and skim milk leads to heavier children.
In 2005, a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine concluded that skim and 1% milk were associated with weight gain in children aged 9-14, but dairy fat was not.
A more recent study in 2010 published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that switching from whole milk to reduced-fat milk at age 2 years did not appear to prevent overweight in early childhood.  Â
Take-home lesson for parents? Â Give your kids whole milk as Grandma and Grandpa did. Â Taking the fat out of milk doesn’t help one iota in reducing a child’s chances of overweight and obesity. Â On the other hand, giving a child whole milk appears to be protective of a healthy weight in childhood!
Learn More About Healthy Fats to Stay Slim
Want to learn more about what fats to eat and what fats to avoid to stay slim and healthy? Â Check out my eBook Get Your Fats Straight – Why Skim Milk is Making You Fat and Giving You Heart Disease and Other Surprising Facts About Fats.
Sources
Whole Milk or Skim? Study Links Fattier Milk to Slimmer Kids
Longitudinal evaluation of milk type consumed and weight status in preschoolers
Milk, dairy fat, dietary calcium, and weight gain: a longitudinal study of adolescents
Prospective association between milk intake and adiposity in preschool-aged children
I thought skim milk was non-fat, but in the article it states it is 1%? Can anyone help me out here to teach me 🙂 Thanks!!
There is whole fat, 2%, 1% and skim. Skim is basically nonfat. Avoid all but whole milk (preferably raw, of course)!!
I think the diet soda drinkers are the heaviest as well…just a guess though!?!?
Elizabeth Grange this is why the nonsense about reduced fat and skim milk being healthy can be pulled over our eyes … because most of us have lost our farming roots and don’t observe that skim milk makes animals really fat so it would do the same to us!
Right!
true
BTW-
In the past month, since I have been drinking FULL FAT, raw unpasteurized goat’s milk, I have lost 6 pounds and was’my even trying to lose weight. When will this low.fat madness stop! You just eat more carbs to compensate for the empty feeling when you have low fat anything
Thanks for clearing this out! Haven’t thought that skim milk causes preschoolers to be the fattest among those children who are drinking low fat milk. I thought that these two have lots of benefits but it’s the opposite around. Ugh.
Sarah,
I just want to thank you so much for all the great info you get out to us. I started having symptoms of Crohn’s disease over a year ago, have no medical insurance, and of course, the western medical system just wants to throw a bunch of expensive tests and horrible, expensive immune suppressing drugs at you. Thanks to you, I started on kombucha tea and fermented veggies the past year, which really helped me so much! THEN…over spring break I discovered our “local Goat’s Farm” ,, Homestead Farm, in Keller, Tx and bought my first gallon of raw, unpasteurized goat’s milk! I am not kidding you, it cured ALL symptoms in 2 days. Yes, raw milk from a local farmer is expensive, but not as expensive as Dr’s and meds that just mask symptoms.
If you are having any “gut” problems, I would strongly suggest you check out traditional/ fermented diets, and try to find/support a local farmer who sells raw, unpasteurized milk and veggies, honey, etc. Goat’s milk is actually the closest in composition to human breast milk, and therefore easiest to digest.
Best wishes to all of you in your search for health!
Sharon in TX
Wow Sharon, that is so encouraging! I just got back from my first visit to a holistic dentist; the visit was wonderful..until I got the tx plan estimate…apparently all those stupid amalgams that my dentist put in when I was 10, now are cracked and leaching into my system. We don’t have insurance either, and haven’t had to go to the doctor in almost 5 yrs…the estimate is 16 thousand dollars! I almost fainted..seriously! I am looking to go to Mexico and if anyone knows a good one there, please let me know! We live in West Texas, so Acuna would be the closest, but I have to have something done as this is already affecting my health. I am 54 and I lost my Dad when he was 58, after he found out he had serious gum disease and broken fillings..cancer after that… I would appreciate any help. I do take Fermented Cod liver oil and raw milk, also try to use ghee and eat raw often. Thanks! No lowfat for us!!
I always tell people, you can pay the farmer or pay the doctor.
I am very curious about your experience with Crohn’s. My bestest friend ever has been diagnosed with Crohn’s since she was 13 and fighting it and the doctors ever since, she gets infusions regularly and has no insurance as well. She eats as much organic and healthy food as they can afford. Do you drink raw cow’s milk also or just raw goat milk?
Have your friend read “Listen To Your Gut” by Jini Patel Thompson. Here is a link to her website, she has a great blog and the book is unbelievable. She has had Crohn’s for many years, but has not had ANY medical interventions in over 20 years! She treats Crohn’s, Colitis, IBS and IBD with a combination of Wild Oregano oil, Probiotcis (including Probiotic retention enemas), and liquid bentonite clay. She addresses digestive inflammation in a very holistic way, and encourages meditation and lifestyle change, along with dietary changes, and natural medicines. http://www.listentoyourgut.com/
I hope this helps your friend!
Better still, drink raw!
It’s the sugar, Sugar!