When to swap from full cream milk to low fat?

[Miss E]

Ok, probably should have done this before posting a thread, but I just googled full cream milk and children and came across a lot of recommendations that you switch over to reduced fat at 2 for the reasons below (sorry I'm not too sure how to do quotes so have just copied and pasted). I still not 100% sure that this is the best thing to do, but clearly the basis of the recommendations have nothing to do with preventing weight gain.

Since 2002, it has been recommended in the National Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents that all children in Australia over the age of two years consume reduced-fat milk. The reason for this is that the type of fat found in milk is largely saturated fat — the fat that accumulates in the arteries over time increasing the risk of heart disease. It is reasoned that as Australian children get plenty of fat in their diets from other sources they do not need extra saturated fat from their milk. A common parental concern about choosing low and reduced fat milks over full cream varieties is that kids may be missing out on calcium. This is not the case, reduced- and low-fat milks generally have more calcium than full-cream varieties.

For this reason, once your child reaches the age of two, a reduced-fat milk is the best milk choice. The other potential benefit of swapping a child's milk over when they are young is that they become used to it before knowing any different and there is no problem swapping it over. We all know how difficult it is to change kids' food once they reach school age!

[PumpkinZulu]

"It is reasoned that as Australian children get plenty of fat in their diets from other sources they do not need extra saturated fat from their milk."

Wow, really? I would think that it would have been better to cut out all other saturated fats from a diet before the fats from milk...I mean, how much saturated fat is found to be naturally occuring in whole, fresh foods (not processed)? I would have thought not many 'real' foods would have contained that type of fat, and therefore it would be better to cut out the processed saturated fats in a diet before the ones from milk...? I didn't think milk had enough saturated fat to clog the arteries, in fact, I thought that the extra sugar from low-fat milk would put more of a strain on the body? Dunno.

[Miss E]

Not sure PZ, I read it as it's good to avoid saturated fats in our diets wherever we can and that is why they have made the recommendation. My understanding has always been that before 2 fat is essential for brain development, so their bodies use it differently, but after that age the fats don't get processed the same way

I also don't really get where this whole thing about low/reduced fat milks having heaps of sugar in them comes from. I drink Physical No fat and it has 13.5g of sugars per 100ml, while DS's full cream organic milk has 12g. Yes the no fat one has a little more, but 1.5g isn't that much.

[PumpkinZulu]

Not sure PZ, I read it as it's good to avoid saturated fats in our diets wherever we can and that is why they have made the recommendation. My understanding has always been that before 2 fat is essential for brain development, so their bodies use it differently, but after that age the fats don't get processed the same way

I also don't really get where this whole thing about low/reduced fat milks having heaps of sugar in them comes from. I drink Physical No fat and it has 13.5g of sugars per 100ml, while DS's full cream organic milk has 12g. Yes the no fat one has a little more, but 1.5g isn't that much.

Okay I definitely admit I don't know anything on the subject Very interesting to read though, I had never heard about switching so I guess it's just another one of those parenting choices down the line, I'll need to read more about it Good to know though!

[Shades]

I think it's one of those things where your own personal judgement and context need to come into play. *Most* Australian children probably do get plenty of fats from other sources (we are in the middle of a childhood obesity crisis right?) so there's logic in cutting down on milk-fat, but if you know that your kids aren't getting fats from processed fatty foods on a regular basis then where's the concern with full-fat milk? On the other hand if you know your child gets a reasonable amount fat in their diet anyway then maybe they could stand to do without the unnecessary bit of extra in full-fat vs low-fat.

[Rouge]

I think I'd be looking at other things for fat other than milk. Like home cooked foods, whole foods and no processed junk before low fat milk. We do not purchase low fat milk here. And my children have a well rounded healthy diet. I worry about the obsession over low fat and children. Overeating and eating the wrong things is the cause of fat problems, not milk. And the amount of fat in real milk is very little in comparison to the rest of the diet so for me it seems like drinking diet coke for weight loss reasons and then washing down a big mac with it. Just my 2c.

[{sarah}]

I work for a company that deals with school canteens & in NSW schools that are listed as the healthiest are on a canteen register. One of the schools we deal with has just brought on a child nutritionist to help with their canteen & she made the school throw out every last low fat slice of cheese, bottle of milk & tub of yoghurt because she said children need the fats in the dairy products they use.

An interesting aside to this is that removing fats from children's diets can have a detrimental affect on their health. My son as a toddler didn't have much fat in his diet, no margarine or butter because I don't like it, nothing fried, no oil etc & the only thing he had was full cream milk. He developed a condition called toddler diarrhea and had to up his fat intake so he could be healthy.

It's a lose lose situation. Too much fat & you get obesity, not enough fat & you have other problems.

[Miss E]

Totally agree ladies. Fats are an important part of the diet (for children and adults alike). Personally we try to have an many good fats in our diet and as a few bad fats. For example we only use vegetables oils (usually olive) buy lean cuts of meat, avoid fried food, and for me and DH eat low fat dairy products. I tend to think it's more about trying to get as many good fats into your diet and as few bad ones like saturated and trans fats.

[~Kaz~]

Intersting discussion.

I thought the recommendation was coming from the other direction - i.e. reduced fat milk should not be given to children under 2 years but that after 2 years it could be on the basis of medical advice??

Just in terms of children and fats and brain development, yes the really critical period is the first two years but the first 5 years of life and then adolescence are the periods in which the body (and brain) are growing the fastest.

We buy full fat here. DS doesn't get much fat or processed foods and he is on the 10th percentile for his age/height so it's not even an issue we'd consider. I think a pp was right when she said that common sense and knowing your child are most important in a decision like this.

[Astrid]

Low fat milk is a by product of the dairy process. Before low fat milks and other products became accepted, it was basically tipped down the drain. So I do wonder how much of the push to low fat is the dairy industry trying to make use of a waste product, which they can actually charge more for. (BTW I am not normally a conspiracy person).

There has been studies on children and how they self regulate food intake. If you have two groups, give one the "normal" food and the other the low fat equivalent and something interesting will happen. The children with the low fat food actually consume just as much fat as the full fat group. To do so, they increase their calorie intake as they have to eat more food to reach a fat level that their bodies are happy with. (Wish I had kept a link to the study) Just something to think about.

I agree though, I would be looking at all areas of what they are eating, rather than the focus of low fat dairy. We are fortunate enough to have access to raw milk, it comes with all the fat, in fact more that what you get by buying it. I will take the fat over highly processed any day.

[Junglemum]

I thought 2% fat milk was the most unprocessed milk, as it comes from the cow with the cream scraped off, and full fat, which is about 4% fat, was processed to incorporate the fat? If that's the case, low fat isn't really a by product.

We kind of drink whatever is around. It's not a big part of our diet so I don't think it makes a big difference for us. ( I won't buy 'diet' anything though, mainly due to the chemicals and artificial sweeteners. )

[Astrid]

Cows milk can vary in levels of fat content due to the breed and location. In the past, yes milk just would have been what was left after the cream was taken off, but even without that cream it is still pretty creamy, nothing like the watery stuff you get with skim milk other low fat milks. If we skim the cream off the raw milk, the milk left behind is creamier than the full fat you can buy. The milk that was delivered when I was a kid, still had the cream layer.

These days all milk is highly processed. It is basically pulled apart and then put back together in different ratios to make milk of varying types. Skim milk powder is still very cheap though considering the changes in processing, they are just off loading a by product.

[MantaRay]

There was a push a while back to switch kids at 2yo. Personally I have chosen not to and my boys at 6 and 4 1/2 both still have full fat dairy everything - milk, cheese and yoghurt. Actually I have full fat dairy too (except for in lattes). I think that it might be different if they were overweight, but they are not and they are healthy, I don't see the harm.

[fionas]

I will be ignoring the recommendations and sticking to full fat everything - milk, butter, cheese you name it. If full fat has been good enough for our ancestors for thousands of years, it's good enough for me and my family. I believe in keeping things as natural as possible and avoiding processed food as much as possible.

And so endeth the sermon from fionas.

[Fleur]

Slightly OT, cheese not milk - I think I recall reading something ages ago which said that low fat cheese was so processed, it is really quite bad for you unless you have a reason to avoid as many fats as possible. And that low fat products in general are higher in sugar, more processed and very little gain to be had in them overall - only if you specifically need to avoid as much fat as possible. Wish I could find it :P interesting idea though.

[Gigi]

Sometimes you find out the "studies" have been sponsored by the very companies, that stand to gain.

I was shown the hospital procedures manual at the sleep school we went to. It says to wean babies at three months. This is what the midwives had to refer to, to know how to operate with the mums. I chose to ignore this. And that was a hospital. (bilby was being breastfed at 19 months at this time).

The hospital i had my baby in, used baby products, that gave bilby constant nappy rash. I thought the baby wipes were ok, safe, cos why else would the hospital use them? Then i found out about the chemicals in the baby wipes, and that the hospital bought the baby wipes at a heavily reduced price, so it was a COST reason they had them, not because they were SAFE FOR babieS skin.

I know what you mean about the lowfat info online - i also googled for it. and the majority of studies/links that came up first, were PRO putting kids on low fat milk at two years old.

Sometimes, it's tempting and persuasive, to do what the majority of people, SEEM to be doing. Doesn't make it right for YOUR child, or YOU, to go with the herd mentality. (i'm saying this in general terms, not OP specifically.

it's confusing, and sometimes downright time consuming - to trail through the multiple opinions and work out "which one is the right fit for MY family".

i consider that an individual journey. And you have to make decisions all the time, for your family, how you're going to do things.

You are in charge, you get to decide.

You do it for your child, nobody else. Nobody else will ever count as much as your child. (this took me a long time to work out, cos i'd been a "people pleaser" for most of my life, still struggle with it).

[AndiE]

My DS1 eats like a bird, so other than the fruche he happily eats, I keep everything else full fat. Geez, generations of old didn't have the low fat alternative and they did ok (although I recognise nor did they have all the trans/saturated fat options either!).
Personally I think children with a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle are better served with full fat dairy products. Just my 2c worth.

[Marlene]

I haven't read all the responses...I have always thought you were not supposed to give children low fat dairy until at least 12 years of age.