This is an interesting piece of news. A latest study claims that eight year old kids who have full-fat milk every day seem to have a lower BMI as compared to those who rarely drink milk. However, that’s not the case for children who frequently drink medium-fat or low-fat milk. Also, kids who drink full-fat milk every day may weigh on average 4 kg less, the study added.
The experts also revealed a difference between overweight children who drink full-fat milk every day in contrast to those who do not. Also, children who often drink milk with a fat content of 3% appear to be less obese.
Study author and dietician from University of Gothenburg, Susanne Eriksson. says, “This is an interesting observation, but we don’t know why it is so. It may be the case that children who drink full-fat milk tend also to eat other things that affect their weight. Another possible explanation is that children who do not drink full-fat milk drink more soft drinks instead.”
The study also showed that the children seem to consume more saturated fat than recommended. However, kids who have a high intake of fat may possibly have a lower BMI than the children with a lower intake of fat.
For the purpose of the study, Eriksson was believed to have investigated the nutrition, body composition and bone mineralization of approximately 120 healthy 8-year-olds. A large amount of these findings could perhaps now be used as a standard in order to establish what is normal for healthy children at that age.
The children were observed to have reported what they had eaten during the previous day, and answered questions concerning how frequently they ate certain foods. Moreover, various risk markers in the children’s blood were noted to have been measured.
“Many of these children had been examined when they were four years old, and we discovered that their eating habits were pretty much unchanged four years later. It appears to be the case that eating habits are established early,” explains Eriksson.
The findings of the study revealed that nearly 62% of the children seem to have low levels of vitamin D in their blood. Apparently, the general guideline value for all people for vitamin D is 75-100 nmol/l. However, most children appear to have less than this.
It was observed that high levels of vitamin D are found in oily fish, while certain dairy products have been fortified with vitamin D. It could perhaps be difficult to get adequate levels of the vitamin through the diet.
Eriksson claimed that they were unable to determine whether the children’s level of vitamin D appears to be connected with their consumption of fish. However, they did see that children who ate oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, at least once a week seem to have higher values of the long-chain fatty acids EPA and DHA in their blood. This explains how vital it is to eat such fish, instead of processed fish such as fish fingers.
This study, ‘Studies on nutrition, body composition and bone mineralization in healthy 8 year-old in an urban Swedish community’ has been presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy.