after the age of two should it be semi skimmed or full fat?

[compo]

Does anyone know the current guidelines? We still buy full fat specially for ds but wondered if we need to carry on doing this?

[PrettyCandles]

IMO it depends on the child. My 5yo ds sometimes disappears if he stands sideways, and often seems to live on air anyway, so he gets full fat, whereas 3yo dd is a great lump of solidity with a splendid appetite, so I'm not bothered whether she gets full fat or semi-skimmed.

[compo]

thanks. He's about normal weight I think so not sure it would matter if I switched

[alison222]

I think the guidelines say full fat until two but then after that it is up to you. If I am wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.
Surely its a wight issue - if they are not overwieght is it neccesary to switch?
BTW DS (5.5) still drinks FF but he is skinny

[SparklyGothKat]

My 8 year old still drinks FF, as do my girls. They are all slight though, so i don't worry about it.

[mojomummy]

how much milk is drunk ?

[iota]

my 6 yr old (skinny) ds1 still drinks FF

[Queenmummy]

Another thing to bear in mind is that the vitamins contained in milk (vit D etc) are fat soluble, so the less fat there is, the less vitamins your child is taking in. Probably not a worry if they have a healthy varied diet anyway, but every little helps! If fat/weight isn't an issue, I'd stick with the full fat. Calcium levels are the same in all types of milk by the way.

[Mercy]

I thought if your child eats well, good variety etc, then after 3 years old they can drink semi-skimmed.

Having said that, dd eats pretty well but does not particularly like many dairy products so I still give her full fat milk as a drink or in cereal.

[Dior]

AFAIK, it's full-fat until 2 years, and then semi-skimmed if they eat well.

[Bozza]

The 0-5 book says full fat until 2, semi until 5, then whatever. I have started mine on semi because they both have good diets including full fat yoghurt and lots of cheese.

[TwoIfBySea]

I had emailed the Healthy Living site a while back about this and this is part of their reply (I had asked about a few things and still have the email as it had some really good information in it)...


Semi-skimmed and skimmed milk contain at least the same amount of protein, B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc as full-fat milk, but less fat.

Once a child is two years old, he or she can start drinking semi-skimmed milk as long as they are eating well and having a wide range of foods. However, skimmed milk isn't suitable for children under five years old. It's too low in calories and contains only very small amounts of vitamins A and D, all of which children need.