Childhood cow's milk intake not linked with adiposity, cardiometabolic risk in early adolescence

A recent study provides proof that drinking higher-fat cow’s milk in early childhood does not result in greater adiposity or adverse cardiometabolic health in early adolescence.

“Prior studies have provided conflicting evidence regarding associations of paediatric milk consumption with subsequent adiposity,” the authors said.

To address this, a study was conducted using data obtained prospectively from 796 children in Project Viva, a Boston-area prebirth cohort. Using food-frequency questionnaires, parents reported the frequency (times/day) and fat content (higher fat: whole [3.25 percent] or 2-percent milk; lower fat: 1-percent or skim milk) of cow’s milk consumed in early childhood (mean 3.2 years).

The authors measured adiposity and cardiometabolic markers in early adolescence (mean 13.2 years) and performed multivariable regression to examine the associations adjusted for baseline parental and child sociodemographic, anthropometric, and dietary factors.

Mean milk intake during early childhood was 2.3 times/day, and majority of the children (63 percent) mainly consumed higher-fat milk. In early childhood, body mass index z-score (BMIz) showed an inverse relationship with the fat content of milk consumed in this period.

Adjusting for baseline parent and child factors revealed the association of early childhood intake of higher-fat milk with lower adiposity compared with lower-fat milk.

However, the 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) for most adiposity outcomes crossed the null after adjusting for baseline child BMIz and BMIz change between ages 2 and 3 years, except for the likelihood of overweight or obesity (odds ratio, 0.60, 95 percent CI, 0.38‒0.93).

Notably, drinking higher-fat milk in early childhood did not contribute to adverse cardiometabolic outcomes when compared with lower-fat milk consumption. In addition, the frequency of cow’s milk intake in early childhood did not correlate with adiposity or cardiometabolic risk in early adolescence.

“Our findings do not support current recommendations to consume lower-fat milk to reduce the risk of later obesity and adverse cardiometabolic outcomes,” the authors said.