Skimmed milk consumption linked with obesity in toddlers

In toddlers, drinking semi-skimmed or skimmed milk was not found to be helpful against excess weight gain, according to a study published in Archives of Diseases in Childhood by Dr. Mark DeBoer and his team from University of Virginia.

The team conducted a sum-up study of 10, 700 newborn’s data. The children were born in 2001, and a long term health study was conducted on those children.

The toddlers’ caregivers or parents were inquired about the child’s milk consumption when the children were two years old. The weight of the infants was recorded. After two years, the follow-up study asked the same details. The weight details of the toddlers’ were recorded.

In the first two years data, 30.1% of the children were obese that increased to 32.2% by the age of four. All the obese children were on skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.

Around 14% and 16% of the obese children (2 and 4 year old, respectively) consumed either fat-free or low-fat milk.  However, in normal weight, 9 and 13% of children (2 and 4 year old, respectively) consumed either fat-free or low-fat milk. The children who drank full-fat or reduced-fat milk weighed less than children who drank semi or skimmed milk. 

According to researchers, high milk fat can increase the sense of fullness or satiety and reduce craving for or intake of calorie-rich foods.