Dr. Marta Pin Muñiz Katalenas, author of "The Step Up Diet: From Scratch... The Quality, Quantity, and Timing Solution to Childhood Obesity" and a well-known pediatrician, advises parents to give a second thought about using skimmed milk as a means to combat childhood obesity.
In a press release, Dr. Katalenas said that whole milk and proper nutrition along with the quantity, quality and timing of meals is essential to a child's diet.
"There isn't a single culprit ingredient that has caused the obesity epidemic, but we clearly eat too many carbohydrates since sugar is added to everything," she said. "To fight obesity you need proper nutrition, which includes drinking milk three times a day, and you need to consider Q-Q-T: the quality of food, the quantity you serve and the timing of meals."
A recent study by the Archives of Disease in Childhood on the incidence of obesity in children states that milk is a good source of calcium and vitamin D, but low-fat milk may not be useful in promoting weight loss.
Previously, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association said that children consume low-fat milk after age 2 to avoid weight gain, but new research shows that children who drank skimmed or low-fat milk showed more weight gain than children who drank whole milk.
Dr. Katalenas explained that children who drink whole milk feel fuller, and therefore eat fewer calories in a day than children who drink skimmed milk.
She also added that in addition to calcium, children need fat for neural development.
Some schools offer chocolate milk as an alternative to whole milk as it contains the same amount of calcium. However, even fat-free chocolate milk contains 27 grams of sugar, which simply substitutes more calories with no nutritional value.
"I advise all my patients to drink milk, and there are benefits to the fat in whole milk to protect against neurological disorders, but if they favor low-fat milk, I don't discourage it," stated Dr. Katalenas. "However, my advice about nutrition goes far beyond what type of milk to drink. The origin of the obesity epidemic resides in profound changes in our lifestyles and how we make our daily food choices."
