Choosing the right milk for your kids can be a big decision. With so many options available, it’s important to understand the differences between them. In this blog post, we’ll explore the various types of milk and help you decide which one is best for your child’s health and well-being.
Which milk should your kids drink? There are many different types of milk to choose at the grocery store. Do your kids need whole milk or skim milk? What about soymilk and lactose-free milk?
It can be overwhelming to look at all the different kinds of milk at the grocery store. If you have ever wondered what the difference is between the kinds of milk, keep reading and learn which milk is best for kids.
Which Milk Should Kids Drink?
Babies: Babies should drink breast milk or formula for the first year of life. Your baby’s digestive system can’t handle cow’s milk.
Children between the ages of 1 – 2: Children between the ages of 1-2 should drink whole milk. At this age, children are rapidly growing and need calories and fat. Your child’s brain needs the fat in the milk to help with development.
Children over the age of 2: Children over the age of 2 should drink low fat (1%) or fat-free (skim) milk.
What is the Difference Between the Different Types of Milk?
You may be wondering, what is the difference between whole milk and skim milk? The differences between whole, 2%, 1%, and skim milk is the fat and calorie content. All cow’s milk contains the same protein.
Whole milk
Whole milk contains the most calories and fat which is important for growing children between the ages of 1-2. Fat supports a young toddler’s rapid growth rate.
It contains 8 grams of fat and 150 calories per 8 ounces.
2% Milk
2% milk is not low-fat milk. Many people think that it is.
2% milk contains 5 grams of fat and 130 calories per 8 ounces.
1% Milk
1% milk is considered low-fat milk. It contains 2.5 grams of fat and 110 calories per 8 ounces.
Skim Milk
Skim milk is fat-free and is the lowest calorie cow’s milk. It contains 0 grams of fat and 90 calories per 8 ounces.
Lactose-Free Milk
What if your child can’t tolerate lactose (lactose-intolerant)? What should he drink? Is lactose-free milk just as healthy as regular cow’s milk?
Lactose intolerance is the difficulty digesting the sugar in milk. Some symptoms of lactose intolerance include gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
Lactose-free milk has the same fat, calories, protein, and calcium as regular cow’s milk. It just has a lactase enzyme added to help digest the lactose in milk.
Plant-based Milk
Not all plant-based milk is a substitute for a serving of dairy in young children. You will need to check the label to look at the amount of calcium.
Make sure the plant-based milk you drink contains at least 300mg of calcium per 8 ounces.
Also, there is a difference in the amount of protein in the different plant-based milks.
Soy milk is made by pressing ground, cooked soybeans. Calcium-fortified soymilk is considered a serving of dairy.
Other plant-based milk, such as almond milk has 1 gram of protein per 8 ounces.
Flavored Milk
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, children 5 years and younger should avoid flavored milk such as chocolate and strawberry milk.
Benefits of Drinking Milk (Why your child should drink milk?)
Dairy products are the primary source of calcium in children. Calcium helps build strong bones and teeth.
During childhood, bone mass is being built. Did you know that kids reach 90% of their peak bone mass by age 18? Drinking milk and eating high calcium foods will reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis later in life.
How much dairy should my child eat every day?
According to MyPlate:
- Children between the ages of 2-3 years old need 2 cups of dairy per day.
- Children between the ages of 4-8 years old need 2 ½ cups of dairy per day.
- Kids between the ages of 9-18 need 3 cups of dairy per day.
Calcium requirements increase as children get older because bones grow rapidly during adolescence.
What is a serving of dairy?
A serving of dairy is:
- 1 cup milk
- 8 ounces of yogurt
- 1 ½ ounce of cheese
- 1 cup calcium-fortified soy milk
Tips to increase your child’s dairy consumption
- Include milk as a beverage with meals.
- Offer yogurt as a snack.
- Add milk to oatmeal and hot cereals instead of water.
- Make fruit and yogurt smoothies. This smoothie blender is popular.
- Dip fruits into yogurt.
The milk my family drinks
For a while, I was buying 3 different kinds of milk. Yes, that is right. Three different kinds of milk.
Let me explain, I drink skim milk for my heart health as it has 0 grams of fat. I prefer the taste of skim milk.
My husband is lactose intolerant, so I buy lactose-free fat-free milk for him.
When my kids were 2, I switched them from whole milk to 1% milk. I went with 1% milk so the texture wouldn’t be too different from whole milk. It is recommend gradually decreasing the fat content of milk (go from whole milk, to 2%, to 1%, to skim) since there is a texture difference.
I decided to leave them at 1% (low-fat) milk for several years (until the age of 5) because they were eating a low-fat healthy diet at home (no fried foods, no highly processed foods). I knew their growing bodies needed a little fat.
Once they started school, I switched them to skim milk. They were eating school lunch some days and eating more snack foods. Their diet was becoming higher in fat, so I switched them to skim milk.
For a special treat on special weekends, my children have flavored milk. I use a chocolate syrup that I add to the milk, so I can control how much extra sugar they are receiving.
Key Points To Remember
Milk is important for your growing child’s bones and teeth. As your child ages, the amount of dairy he needs increases.
As your child grows, the type of milk she needs changes.
Which milk should kids drink? Babies less than 1 year should drink breast milk or formula. Children ages 1-2 need whole milk and children over the age of 2 should drink 1% milk or skim.
Don’t worry if your child doesn’t drink milk, there are other food sources of calcium. Most of the foods in the dairy group provides calcium, such as yogurt and cheeses.
Encouraging your kids to drink milk (either cow’s milk or plant-based milk) and eat dairy and calcium-rich foods can help them build strong bones.
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