Is High Milk Intake Good for Children’s Health? A National Population-Based Observational Cohort Study

Yoowon Kwon,Young Sun Cho,Seung Won Lee,Man Yong Han,Su Jin Jeong

doi:10.3390/nu13103494

Yoowon Kwon, Young Sun Cho + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103494

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Abstract

Milk is widely considered as a beneficial product for growing children. This study was designed to describe the milk consumption status of Korean children aged 30–36 months and to investigate its association with the risk of obesity and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). This nationwide administrative study used data from the Korean national health insurance system and child health screening examinations for children born in 2008 and 2009. In total, 425,583 children were included, and they were divided into three groups based on daily milk consumption: low milk group (do not drink or drink <200 mL milk per day, n = 139,659), reference group (drink 200–499 mL milk per day, n = 255,670), and high milk group (drink ≥500 mL milk per day, n = 30,254). After adjusting variable confounding factors, the consumption of a large amount of milk of ≥500 mL per day at the age of 30–36 months was associated with an increased risk of obesity at the age of 42–72 months and IDA after the age of 30 months. These results may provide partial evidence for dietary guidelines for milk consumption in children that are conducive to health.

Highlights

IntroductionAppropriate linear growth and weight gain are the most crucial issues among healthy children and are related to several factors, such as nutritional status, physical development, calorie intake from diverse types and amounts of food, and level of physical activity [1]
Valentina De CosmiAppropriate linear growth and weight gain are the most crucial issues among healthy children and are related to several factors, such as nutritional status, physical development, calorie intake from diverse types and amounts of food, and level of physical activity [1].In particular, milk is widely considered as a beneficial product for growing children because it is a complete source of energy and is the richest and the most inexpensive source of high nutritional quality protein, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin A [2,3].nutritional guidelines in most countries recommend daily milk consumption as a component of a healthy diet [4]
Milk is widely considered as a beneficial product for growing children because it is a complete source of energy and is the richest and the most inexpensive source of high nutritional quality protein, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin A [2,3]

Summary

Introduction

Appropriate linear growth and weight gain are the most crucial issues among healthy children and are related to several factors, such as nutritional status, physical development, calorie intake from diverse types and amounts of food, and level of physical activity [1]. Nutritional guidelines in most countries recommend daily milk consumption as a component of a healthy diet [4]. In the United States (US), the national dietary guidelines recommend amounts of dairy in 2, 2-1/2, and 3 cup equivalents per day for children aged 2–3, 4–8, and 9–18 years, respectively [5]. Guidelines 2016 suggest that school-age children should drink 300 mL of milk per day [1,6]. In Korea, the 2020 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans recommends two cups (400 mL)

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