Milk substitutes change the size of children, says a doctor with links to the dairy industry

Milk substitutes change the size of children, says a doctor with links to the dairy industry

milk substutes change the size of children

Milk substitutes change the size of children, says a doctor with links to the dairy industry

Media reports this week include a new study by researchers at the University of Toronto, praising the benefits of cow's milk and damaging non-bovine milk such as soy, rice and dairy milk. 'almond.

Based on dietary surveys and physical measurements of 5034 children aged two to six years, researchers found that the 643 children who drank milk cow alternatives tended to be shorter than their peers drink Of cow's milk. The study even suggests a dose-dependent response: more cow milk does, shorter child. Each cup of vaccine milk unrelated to a 0.4 cm drop, researchers reported in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. At the age of 3, children who drank three cups of cow's milk with raw milk per day were 1.5 times those who drank 3 cups of cow's milk per day.

The study has several weaknesses. The most notable is that not account for the whole diet of children or the height of both parents. (Height is determined not only by nutrition, but by environmental and genetic factors.) It is also to a correlative study, not able to determine causality, even in the best of cases. Moreover, even if there is a link between the different types of milk and height, the importance is questionable. The study does not claim that these slight differences in height at an early age have tips on the height of current or future health or adult. None of the children were malnourished or stunted.
But perhaps the more details are studying the links of the dairy industry, the main researcher was inferior to coming in an interview granted to Ars.

sour milk

sour milk

The lead author, pediatrician Jonathon Maguire, told Ars that the study was not funded by the dairy industry was funded by the Institutes of Health Research and the St. Michael Foundation Hospital. But previous studies that have been written collaboratively supported by the industry. And many of these studies, like this one, were very much in favor of the dairy industry. For example, a co-author of the 2014 study concluded that milk substitutes could lead to a reduction in vitamin D in children and high-fat milk drinks could promote a healthy weight.

Although children need fat, protein and vitamin D, all components of the milk, these nutrients are not exclusive milk. Many other foods contain them, including vegetables, nuts, beans and fortified foods, including fortified milk substitutes such as soy milk. Cow's milk is not an essential nutrient. Many children, especially those who are lactose intolerant can get all the nutrients they need from a cow-free diet.

However, when Ars asked Maguire if the nutritional needs of a child could be independently satisfied with the amount of milk no vaccine was added or how the milk cow had been removed, he answered strangely: "Actually, I do not know the answer to that question. And I do not think - do not have enough data to answer that. "

Ars when asked about their past ties to the dairy industry, he does not have the truth. As for funding, he said he only had a small grant "about $ 10,000 dairy farmers a decade ago." And that's all. "However, some dig enough internet light found that this was not true. In 2011, he and his colleagues received a three-year grant and $ 90,000 from Canada's milk producers. A co-authored study in 2015 that included the same cohort of children who participated in the new study, listing dairy farmers in Ontario as donors. Another co-authored the study in 2016 dairy producers listed in Canada as lenders. In one public presentation, one of his graduate students clearly mentioned the two industry groups among the donor laboratories.
Asked about this funding, Maguire supported his statement on previous funding, but recalled that the study was not funded by the dairy industry.

Ars Maguire also asked about their affiliation with the industry and whether it was in an advisory committee. He simply replied that he was not, but did not notice that he was a member of the Expert Scientific Advisory Committee of Canada's dairy producers recently in 2016. During the follow-up, Maguire simply said that " He was no longer a member.

Although the links with the industry and study boundaries are of concern, Maguire has offered us this useful tip: to make nutritional choices, make sure to read the fine print on the food labels. The same is true of nutrition research.