Why Is Milk A Recommended Food For Children And Which Is The Best?

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Video: Why Is Milk A Recommended Food For Children And Which Is The Best?

Video: Why Is Milk A Recommended Food For Children And Which Is The Best?
Video: बाळाच्या उत्तम वजन वाढीसाठी आणि आरोग्यासाठी योग्य दूध | Best milk for children's healthy weight gain 2024, November
Why Is Milk A Recommended Food For Children And Which Is The Best?
Why Is Milk A Recommended Food For Children And Which Is The Best?
Anonim

The milk plays an important role in feeding a child, whether it is an infant who drinks milk, or a young child who eats cereal with milk, or even a teenager who puts milk in a smoothie.

Cow's milk in particular provides a variety of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that children need to maintain their growth and development.

Types of milk

Although most people think of cow's milk when they hear the word milk, there is now a wide variety of drinks that are called by that name. The diet with different types of milk varies considerably.

The different types of milk that children can drink

- Cow's milk (whole, 2%, 1%, skimmed or flavored, as well as chocolate milk)

- Vegetable milk such as rice, almond, soy, coconut, hemp, oat or cashew milk)

- Goat milk.

Eating milk

Cow's milk for children
Cow's milk for children

Cow's milk naturally contains protein, calcium, potassium and vitamin B12. Cow's milk for children is enriched with vitamin D (which means that it is added to the milk during processing). Vitamin A is added to low-fat, low-fat milk and skim milk.

Because these are important nutrients for children's growth and development, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that younger children receive up to two glasses of milk a day and older children receive three. If children do not prefer liquid cow's milk, have lactose intolerance, or their family is vegan, the nutrients found in cow's milk are offered in other foods.

Children can meet their daily needs without milk through a well-planned diet that includes other foods rich in protein, calcium, potassium and vitamins A and D. Foods made from cow's milk, such as yogurt, kefir and cheese, are also possibility of obtaining nutrients from milk in the child's diet, even if it does not prefer liquid cow's milk.

Non-dairy alternatives to milk

Why is milk a recommended food for children and which is the best?
Why is milk a recommended food for children and which is the best?

If your child prefers plant-based milk such as almond or rice milk, choose an option enriched with calcium and vitamin D. Then you need to make sure that you offer other foods that contain protein throughout the day, as the alternative to most dairy products are very low in protein. You will also need to compensate for other nutrients that milk provides, such as vitamin A, potassium and vitamin B12.

Recommendations for milk for children

Fresh milk children
Fresh milk children

In principle, most children take advantage of consumption of cow's milk or cow's milk products after the age of 12 months (if they are not allergic to milk). Keep in mind that young children who are breastfed two to three times a day or who are still drinking formula do not have to drink cow's milk. However, they probably need extra vitamin D if they are breastfeeding and do not receive vitamin D from another source.

Of course, if your children do not drink milk, you can replace it with other dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt or other foods high in calcium and vitamin D.

Keep in mind that not all yogurts are fortified with vitamin D, and most cheeses do not have vitamin D. Even if your children (over 12 months old) drink milk, they will probably need to eat some other foods rich in calcium. and vitamin D to reach the recommended daily dose of 600 IU per day for vitamin D.

Using only milk to achieve the recommended daily dose of calcium is not a sensible idea. Drinking more than three glasses of milk a day can displace others foods in the child's diet, exposing him to the risk of iron deficiency anemia as well as other nutritional imbalances.

Milk allergy and lactose intolerance

Why is milk a recommended food for children and which is the best?
Why is milk a recommended food for children and which is the best?

If your child has a milk allergy and is allergic to milk proteins, he should not drink milk or consume dairy products made with milk. Children with milk allergy may develop symptoms ranging from hives to more severe symptoms such as wheezing, vomiting, diarrhea or even anaphylaxis.

Children with milk allergies should strictly avoid any milk and dairy products and instead turn to non-dairy food sources to get enough calcium and vitamin D in their diet. Some children outgrow their milk allergy.

More common than milk allergy is lactose intolerance, in which children may tolerate certain dairy products but develop gas, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and bloating if they take too much or products with a particularly high lactose content (sugar, which occurs naturally in animal milk).

Unlike cases of milk allergy, in which the child reacts to the protein in the milk (even in small amounts), children with lactose intolerance do not have enough enzyme needed to digest lactose.

Children with lactose intolerance they can usually tolerate some dairy products, although the amount depends on the individual child. For example, a child may develop symptoms only if he or she has an extra glass of milk, cheese or ice cream pizza, etc., but may have no symptoms if he or she consumes little cereal milk.

Yogurt usually has less lactose because the fermentation process reduces it. Mature cheese has almost no lactose. There are also cow's milk and cow's milk products that have the added enzyme lactase, which breaks down lactose, so these products do not contain lactose.

And your children simply can't resist these delicacies with milk - take a look at our delicious offers for milk with rice or prepare some milk cream for everyone at home.

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