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Cow's milk is the primary source of vitamin D for children, but dairy products can interfere with the absorption of iron. Pediatricians have never known how much milk a child should drink. Now researchers have established that for most children, two cups a day achieves the right balance. Canadian scientists studied more than 1,300 healthy 2- to 5-year-olds, collecting data on diet and physical activity. They took blood samples to measure iron and vitamin D levels.
The study, published online in the journal Pediatrics last week, found that after adjusting for other factors, two cups a day was enough to maintain sufficient vitamin D (more than 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood) without affecting iron levels. But bottle use, season of the year, skin pigmentation and body mass index had significant effects on the optimal amounts of milk. Children with darker skin, for example, needed three to four cups of milk to get sufficient vitamin D in winter. Those who used only a bottle failed to maintain sufficient stores of vitamin D and iron. The lead author, Dr. Jonathon L. Maguire, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, said that children over 2 should not be given a bottle. "It's easy to give children the bottle to pacify them," he said, "but in terms of these two nutrients, there's no benefit in it." |
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