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Original poster

This in the news about milk has thrown me a bit (take children over 2 off full fat milk)

80 replies

TsarChasm · 10/02/2009 16:35

This

Mine still have full fat milk and eat a good diet. (All beanpole-ish in stature)

I buy whole milk specifically for them. Are the Government's Food Standards Agency getting a bit ott about this? It seems the wrong thing to tell people to remove from their (or their children's) diet to me.

OP posts:
LadyOfWaffle · 10/02/2009 16:40

If your child is eating a healthy diet then is it an issue? I thought you needed some fat?

BonsoirAnna · 10/02/2009 16:41

I know about this and I think, like all things, that you need to use your common sense. If you have very skinny children, full fat milk is a good idea. Other children ought to drink semi-skimmed. No children should drink skimmed milk as it doesn't have enough nutrients.

LadyOfWaffle · 10/02/2009 16:41

IMO I don't think the obesity epidemic is caused by full fat milk & cheese.

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 10/02/2009 16:42

I thought you went to semi at 2 and then skimmed at 5? Because it's the calcium they need, not the fat?

TheMadHouse · 10/02/2009 16:43

Both my two have full fat milk - I didnt think it was an issue.

In laws are dailry farms and fit a lops, they drink full fat unpaturised and always have. They never had skimmed or semi when FIL was a lad

Littlefish · 10/02/2009 16:43

I don't think this is new advice. My dd is 4 and I remember talking to the HV about this 2 years ago.

Made my life easier! Now I only get one sort of milk and don't end up wasting as much.

SobranieCocktail · 10/02/2009 16:43

How odd! I definitely won't be switching to semi-skimmed for my two. They are skinny minnies and need all the calories they can get.

fryalot · 10/02/2009 16:44

is it Tuesday?

buried deep in that article is this quote:

"Asked what age children should stop drinking full-fat milk, Dr Hignett said: 'After two.'

She added: 'After that age, it is perfectly fine to start moving to semi-skimmed and 1 per cent milk.'

Perfectly fine to start moving to semi-skimmed does NOT mean "fgs don't give your kid full fat milk you'll kill them!!!!!"

scaremongering imo

If your child eats healthily then there can surely be no harm in them drinking full fat milk.

If your child is particularly overweight, it may be an idea to cut out the chocolate and chips before the full fat milk.

TheMadHouse · 10/02/2009 16:44

Anna - what do you mean you know about this?

NogginOfRum · 10/02/2009 16:44

I sometimes think full fat milk is the only thing keeping my DS (3.5) alive because he eats next to nothing, so i won't be stopping!

Itsjustafleshwound · 10/02/2009 16:48

I get so about this sort of reporting ... as squonk points out, it only says CUT DOWN ...

Add this misinformation to that stupid Formula/Follow on milk adert that is doing the rounds (Cow and Gate) and end up with confused mums and kids getting a screwed up diet ...

Mercy · 10/02/2009 16:48

I always thought the advice was it was ok to give semi-skimmed from 3 provided they have a wide and varied diet.

Anyway, dd switched to s/s at around 5 as she found the f/f too creamy. Ds is almost 5 and has made the same decision (but his diet isn't particularly good so we'll have to see)

BonsoirAnna · 10/02/2009 16:49

only that I have already heard the guidelines (ie am not surprised, unlike the OP)

TheMadHouse · 10/02/2009 16:51

Oh OK - I thought you had an inside track or something

When does enough milk become too much?

whenigrowupiwanttobe · 10/02/2009 16:52

The advice hasn't changed it has always been advised that you switch to semi skimmed at the age of 2. As other posters have said you do need to use your common sense, we have just been through a period where ds was not eating very well and he lost quite a bit of weight so I switched to full fat milk to "fatten" him up a bit.

Original poster
TsarChasm · 10/02/2009 16:53

It could give the impression that milk and cheese are causing obesity problems atm. Ok if you eat too much many things that will happen, but surely it's other factors that are of greater concern.

OP posts:
ProfYaffle · 10/02/2009 16:53

Oh, I don't know what to do. dd1 is a skinny minny fussy eater so probably ok on full fat but dd2 (2) is chunkier. Not fat but not skinny. She should probably be on semi skimmed. Me and dh have skimmed. I'm fecked if I'm buying 3 types of milk.

ellideb · 10/02/2009 16:55

I thought I would point out that skimmed milk does indeed have more nutrients than full fat. It has more calcium instead of the fat. But young children do need the fat content of the full fat milk.

Mercy · 10/02/2009 16:56

Plenty of 2 (and 3 and 4 year!) olds are chubby - it's normal.

Babies and young children need fat for brain development.

DanJARMouse · 10/02/2009 16:57

All 3 of mine are on full fat.

DS will be for a while yet, he is only 14mnths.

The girls are 3 and 4yrs old but Im not switching them yet.

I was switched at around 5yrs old.

My girls will drink 1% fat milk with no problems, but I prefer to give them the full fat milk in their cereal as its really the only milk they drink.

Hangingbellyofbabylon · 10/02/2009 16:58

Some children drink a lot of milk, mine have it on their cereal in the morning and that's it. mine will not be moving to semi-skimmed as we all have whole milk in this family. I blame being fat on the kebabs, not the whole milk.

Itsjustafleshwound · 10/02/2009 17:00

Ellideb - I was under the impression that the only nutritional deifference between the various milk varieties was the fat content? Why would skimmed milk have more calcium/nutrients?

mankyscotslass · 10/02/2009 17:00

I've known about this for a while.

DS1 and DD are both skinny minnies and are on full fat milk still. Unless they suddenly and very unexpectedly pile on weight, they will be on full fat for a long time!

DS2 hates the stuff to drink anyway, but has full fat milk on cereal. If he was drinking gallons of it the way the other two do then I would probably put him on semi-skimmed, as he is chunkier than the other two, by a long way!

Like others have said, it's just common sense really.

lljkk · 10/02/2009 17:10

It also says in the article that full fat was fine for children 20-30 yrs ago when children were generally more active.
So.... if your dc are as active as children in the past, then full fat should still be fine.

Presumably skim milk has less of the fat soluable nutrients, like vit. A?

solidgoldbullet4myvalentine · 10/02/2009 17:15

Ignore this load of bollocks. It's full fat all the way in our house as I loathe skimmed and semi-skimmed milk (and the rubbish dietary advice put out by the GOvernment which is mostly based on lining some or other food-processor's pockets).
A varied diet and plenty of exercise is all you need, and much of the 'obesity apocalypse' is bullshit anyway.