Calcium intake through Lite / full cream

[Miss T]

Hi, I am wondering if giving children Lite milk is better than full cream?
I am not to sure why my center just gives lite milk and not full cream. Just seeing what other centers do

[catchmeifucan]

We use full cream milk at my centre. I also find there is nothing wrong in giving full cream since I believe that children at young age needs as much nutrients to support their development and their physical activities.

[rosie.]

I believe the NHMRC don't recommend light/reduced-fat versions of dairy products for children under 2 because as catchmeifucan said, they need the fats and nutrients for development and growth. And at my centre, its provided by parents...

[LindyT]

I did the "Munch and Move" workshop recently and asked about the children being given Low Fat Milk. Apparently it is now acceptable and in some cases desirable.

[Miss T]

I still think full cream is best for chn.

[LindyT]

Miss T I 100% agree.

[Roxy C]

Hi
As part of my human nutrition degree I did infant and toddler dietetics and the Dietitians Association of Australia recommends, as LindyT said full cream between 12months and 2 years and reduced fat up to 5 years and then fat free is OK. The reason is the balance of nutrition coming from the milk compared to the rest of their diet which decreases as other foods are introduced. The lower the fat content of the milk the higher the calcium and protein content so don't look on it as inferior nutrition lacking something. The fat in milk is saturated fat and we use it for hormone production and so littlies don't need that much, adolescents and oldies do though!
Hope that helps?

[Roxy C]

saturated fat is not just for hormone production! sorry my last message was perhaps a bit misleading. The saturated fat that doesn't get used for energy or hormones or a few other uses gets stored as fat and builds the bodies fat cells up but little else at a young age. it is better to include some of the other fats in the diet such as from oily fish or nut pastes if they are not allergic to them.

[Miss T]

So do all centers need to give milk to children? or is it a preference?