Abstract
Undernutrition in young children is a global health issue. The ability to meet energy and nutrient needs during this critical stage of development is necessary, not only to achieve physical and mental potential but also socio-economic achievement later in life. Given ongoing discussions regarding optimization of dietary patterns to support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations, it is important to identify foods/food groups that have shown efficacy in reducing the negative impacts of undernutrition in young children. This narrative review addresses the impact of dairy intake, with a focus on linear growth, cognitive development and weight gain in early childhood (12–60 months). The impact of country economic status is also examined, to help elucidate regional specific recommendations and/or future research needs. Overall, the body of research addressing this age group is somewhat limited. Based on the data available, there is a positive association between dairy intake and linear growth. The impact of milk or dairy products on cognitive development is less clear due to a lack of evidence and is a gap in the literature that should be addressed. Regarding the impact on body weight, the majority of evidence suggests there is either no association or an inverse association between milk intake by preschool children on overweight and obesity later in life. This evidence is exclusively in high income countries, however, so additional work in lower income countries may be warranted.
Highlights
Undernutrition in young children is a global health issue
We focus on a subset of papers from the database that address dietary intake of “non-fortified” milk and dairy by preschoolers (12–60 months age group) and to what extent there exists evidence of an association with linear growth, cognitive development and weight gain in these subjects in countries of different income classification
Seventeen of the nineteen studies reviewed reported a positive association between non-fortified milk intake and linear growth
Summary
Undernutrition in young children is a global health issue. In the 2019 edition of the joint malnutrition estimates, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) reported that nearly 149 million children under 5 years of age were stunted in 2018 [1]. The importance of incorporating animal sources of protein has been proposed, and milk and dairy are of specific interest as they deliver energy, high quality protein and a variety of micronutrients [6] In this narrative review, literature that addresses the impact of dairy intake on undernutrition in early childhood (preschool years, 12–60 months), in high and upper-middle income countries is examined. Dietary changes in these countries include a shift towards highly processed foods as well as a recommendation, by some, towards substitution of plant in place of animal sourced protein/foods Both changes have resulted in a decreased intake of dairy foods and macro- and micronutrients contained therein, which may negatively impact the nutritional status and development of young, preschool children.
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