How to choose the right milk for your child

Is cow milk the ideal food? Yes and no. Yes - for cow's offspring. No - for human offspring. For children between the ages of one to two, who are not intolerant or allergic to dairy products, milk is a universal store: it contains virtually all the essential nutrients that are required for growth to a child of this age: fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals. The main value of dairy products lies in their acceptable balance, which is especially important at a time when children are famous for their poor appetite. Although it is true that everything available in milk can be as good( and sometimes even better) from other sources of food - vegetables, legumes and seafood.- The reality is that children from one to two usually eat or drink dairy products in large quantities and with greater consistency than other foods. The problem with all these beneficial substances contained in milk is that it was created for the growth of calves, rather than human children.

Cow milk close-up

Calves grow much faster than human children, this is the problem of cow's milk. It's too concentrated. Cow's milk contains almost three times more protein than human milk, and more than twice as many as infant formula. Even more worrying is the excess content in cow's milk of minerals( sodium, calcium and phosphorus), three times higher than their content in human milk and in artificial mixtures. How can the surplus of these nutrients be bad for young children? The excretory system of the body works hard to cope with excess substances that do not need;usually these are extra proteins and minerals. If the kidneys have to deal with food with a high content of slag( which in cow's milk is two to three times more than in human milk or artificial infant formula), they are forced to work hard to remove excess. This excess is especially hard to tolerate in the first months of the child's life, when the baby buds are not yet developed enough.

Apart from these excesses in cow's milk, another reason why the Nutrition Committee at the American Pediatric Academy does not recommend the use of

milk as the main drink for children up to a year, is a risk of allergy. As allergist research indicates, if cow's milk is given to children under the age of three months, about 25% will later develop an allergy to cow's milk.

Cow's milk contains very little iron needed for the fast-growing red blood cells in the body, and consumption by children up to a year can lead to aggravation of the same-lezodefitsitnoy anemia.

Milk Types

Milk differs in its fat content. Whole milk is what a cow gives. It contains 3.25-4% fat and about 70 calories per 100 ml. In 2% milk( with a low fat content), part of the fat is removed, and this milk contains 50 calories per 100 ml. The removed milk( skim, light) is practically fat-free and has 35 calories per 100 ml. Since fats have recently met with such a negative attitude, should not babies be given low-fat milk? No! Milk with a low fat content and skim milk deprive the growing baby of valuable nutrients.

Goat's milk. According to nutritional value, goat's milk is close to the cow's, and the caloric content of it is exactly the same. Parents claim that goat's milk is less likely to cause allergies than cow's milk, but, as far as we know, no scientific studies have been conducted. Goat milk contains more essential fatty acids and

a higher percentage of triglycerides with a medium-weight chain, a type of fat that can be digested more easily. However, goat's milk is poor in folic acid, necessary for producing red blood cells. Look, there is

Calcium sources

Where can a child get enough calcium? How to be a child who does not want to drink milk or is allergic to milk and other dairy products? In North America, calcium deficiency is rare, since some calcium is found in most foods. The recommended daily intake of calcium for children is 800 milligrams, but some nutritionists believe that these requirements may be overestimated.500 ml of milk will provide the child with a daily rate of calcium. Pay attention to the following sources of calcium.

The best dairy	Contents
Calcium sources	calcium *
yogurt, 1 glass	415 mg
milk, 1 glass	300 mg
cheese "Cheddar", 30 g	200 mg
( cube 2.5x2.5 cm)
macaroni with cheese,	200 mg
1 cup
cheese home,	155 mg
1 cup

Best nondairy	content
calcium sources calcium
sardines, 90 g	371mg
rhubarb, 1 cup	348 mg
chick peas, 1 cup	300mg
spinach, 1 glass	272 mg
cabbage and
cabbage1 sprout	179-357 mg
broccoli, 1 glass	177 mg
salmon( canned), 90 g	167 mg
canned beans( 1 glass)	141 mg
dark cane	137 mg
gmelass, 1 st.spoon
figs, 5 pieces	135 mg
tofu, 90 g	108 mg
almond oil, 30 g	75 mg
dried apricots, 1 glass	59 mg
dry beans( boiled), 1 glass	50-100mg

* Calcium content is indicated on average and depends on the type of packaging and other similar factors. In fish( sardines and salmon), the calcium content depends on the amount of pounded bones in the fish. Leafy vegetables( cabbage and cabbage sprouts), although rich in calcium, are usually not good for young children, but they can be chopped and camouflaged in casseroles.

Dairy advice

• Do not give cow milk as a drink to children under the age of one year. Use breast milk and / or iron-fortified artificial mixture.

• Skimmed milk is not recommended for children under one year.

• Give children under two years of full-fat milk.

• Milk with reduced fat content can be given to children over two years of age.

• Low fat milk can be used between the ages of eighteen months and two years if the child drinks too much milk.

• For most children between the ages of one and two, milk consumption should be limited to 700 milliliters per day.

• Meet the symptoms of a mild allergy to milk or milk intolerance.

whether the label reads: "With the addition of folic acid."If not, children, whose main source of food is goat's milk, should consume other sources of folic acid( whole grains, legumes, meat and fish).

Yogurt. Perhaps even better nutrition for a child from one year to two than simple milk, yogurt is made by adding to the milk of the bacterial culture Lactobacillus bulgaricus ( Bulgarian bacillus).These bacteria act like digestive enzymes, coagulating milk proteins and converting lactose in milk into lactic acid. By making milk proteins less allergenic and changing lactose, this culture makes yogurt more easily tolerated by some children between the ages of one and two, allergic to fresh milk protein or intolerance to lactose in milk. As an alternative to milk drink try kefir, which is yogurt, prepared more liquid consistency, so that it can be poured and drunk.

Yogurt is the ideal food for a child, since you can cook from it so many wonderful children's dishes: you can spread it on bread in combination with other ingredients, you can cook sauces, gravies, puddings from it, and also use it as a healthy substitutecream, put on potatoes instead of sour cream, and add to sauces and custards.

Milk with lactase( Lactaid). Milk with lactase is made by adding lactase enzyme to the milk. It breaks down lactose into simpler sugars, allowing milk to be more easily digested in the intestines with a deficiency of lactase. Alternatively, you can buy the enzyme lactase in the form of tablets or drops and add to the usual milk.

Artificial milk( imitation milk)."Non-dairy" cream, for example, is made from corn syrup, vegetable oils, emulsifiers, stabilizers, perfumes, and sometimes they contain some components of milk, such as sodium caseinate. These are not milk substitutes, and should not be given as a beverage to infants and children.