At what age do children no longer need milk? DD is 10.

[Mumma]

I have not drank milk since I gave up the bottle... hate the stuff. I have no baseline to compare when it is normal to stop providing milk.

MIL insists on giving two hot chocolates a day to 10 year old... (options low cal stuff) She feels she needs calcium.

At what age would you expect children to stop drinking daily milk?

:)

Cows rarely get osteoporosis I believe and don’t drink much milk as adults

why do you believe that?

Well cow milk is for baby cows, so arguably no human needs it. Join the revolution, drink Oatly 😉

I thibk at 10 it's less an issue of need than want. There are plenty other options for calcium etc. I have a 9 year old ds who had cmpa and even after growing out of it never liked the taste. Ds 5 had same but always catch him pouring a glass of milk on the kitchen floor! I myself am very much an adult but still enjoy a cold glass of milk (dare I say with ice?)

Expectant mothers used to get milk tokens. I think you still get free dentistry. Isn't that calcium related?

It all seems v odd. What has changed about human digestion that means 'most people can't digest milk'? Lactose intolerance was never a thing when I was growing up. Is it vegan propaganda or millennial faddiness about diet?

What has changed about human digestion that means 'most people can't digest milk'? Lactose intolerance was never a thing when I was growing up. Is it vegan propaganda or millennial faddiness about diet?

nothing has changed

it is the normal human condition

only in a few areas of the world where full nutrition has ONLY been available if you include milk has natural selection favoured those with a mutation meaning you can digest it.

for example, northern Europe, Massia tribes.

nothing has changed since you were growing up, other than you grew up in ignorance of a basic medical fact

Lactose intolerance was never a thing when I was growing up. Is it vegan propaganda or millennial faddiness about diet?

It just means you grew up in Northern Europe.

In huge parts of the world dairy is not part of the diet and the only milk consumed is Mother’s milk by children.

If your dd likes milk I'd encourage it. It's
certainly better than most drinks. But not with added chocolate!
If she doesn't like it it's not a problem though I would check that her diet has plenty of calcium from other sources.

Clairetree It seems that my ignorance of 'a basic medical fact' was shared by the Ministries of Health over several generations. Or perhaps they knew but since we are a Northern European country, where the overwhelming majority of the population are of N.E. descent, cases of lactose intolerance in children and adults were rare enough not to influence their decisions regarding public health.

Milk puddings were a staple part of our diet. Highly recommended as an invalid food. Cadbury's promoted their chocolate with 'a glass and a half in every bar'. Adults happily drank mugs of Bournvita or Horlicks to prevent 'night starvation'. And if anyone got ill because of it, it never made the news.

Different regions of the world have different diets due to different climates and growing conditions. There are also genetic and environmental factors in many diseases. Another factor in preventing osteoporosis is weight-bearing exercise. Perhaps populations who don't drink milk do more of that. Perhaps they die at an earlier age before brittle bones have become a problem.

We're talking about Op's dd. She's a growing girl. She needs calcium for healthy bones. Milk is a v easy, cheap and convenient way of ingesting it. As far as we know she has no problems with her digestion. What's the problem?

We're talking about Op's dd. She's a growing girl. She needs calcium for healthy bones. Milk is a v easy, cheap and convenient way of ingesting it. As far as we know she has no problems with her digestion. What's the problem?

there is no problem at all

as I said, milk is nutritious, and harmless if you can digest it.

I am very surprised at the number of posters who are unaware that it is only a minority of the human race who can digest it after a certain age

Lactose intolerance isn't knew, it just wasn't really known about before. All those 'sickly' children we hear about, a good chunk of them probably had food allergies and intolerances that weren't known about.
Intolerances are also on the rise, most likely due to changes in our gut microbiome thanks so too many antibiotics/antibacterials, changes in lifestyle, increase of cesareans, reductions in breast feeding, etc.

This article on bones being a calcium bank against future osteoporosis.
I think milk is an easy way to get calcium into children. I still drink it in my 40s and am not of northern European origin and no lactose intolerance here...

*isn't new

CurlyWurlyTwirly that's a very biased link, from an organisation clearly funded by those with a vested interest in getting people to buy milk

The research is constantly changing and updating - microbe research is completely undoing what we thought we knew about nutrition

The Japanese also have a high intake of vitamin K2, which is thought to prevent osteoporosis. High dose vitamin K2 is licensed in Japan for treatment of osteoporosis.

I think it's because calcium deficiency was more prevalent in MiLs generation. Free milk at school stopped kids getting rickets and gave them much needed calories.
Now, our children have plenty of varied food which provides all of the calcium and energy your DD needs.

And no, she doesn't need it. Spinach and chia seeds are both better sources of calcium than milk.

Milk does have nutritional value and dairy is an important part of culture all over Europe, Northern Africa and parts of Asia (not only in Northern Europe and not only cow's milk). There are all kinds of cheese, butter, cream, buttermilk, junket, soured milk / cream, fermented drinks... Some of them (think yoghurt and kefir) have been found to be beneficial to your gut flora. None of those are essential to human life (so little is) but a lot of us enjoy the different tastes and value this part of our cultural heritage.

IMO there are a lot worse things you could be putting in your mouth. Of course I am not talking here about people with allergies or lactose intolerance.

I think it's important to look at milk's value as a drink (which is what op was asking about) too. Children need fluids. Water is best, of course. But after that there are few healthy options. A glass of milk is infinitely preferable to fruit juice, squash, cola...

As I said much earlier down thread though, the options would bother me. I'd be totally fine with the milk.

Spinach and chia seeds. Yum yum. Does any 10 yr old eat spinach and chia seeds on a daily basis? 'Plenty of varied food'? I think that sounds like wishful thinking from what I've observed myself.

I still don't understand the antagonism towards something as quick and easy a calcium source as a glass of milk.

Lemony spinach has roughly 120mg calcium per portion. A 10 year old needs 550mg per day.

How realistic is it to expect a child to be able to reliable achieve their daily recommended intake with green leafy veg alone? No food sources are as dense as dairy. The only realistic alternatives are artificially fortified foods, such as milk substitutes etc.

Spinach isn’t the only source of calcium - beans, lentils, fortified tofu, green veg, as well as dairy products, but they’re not essential. The idea that kids will only eat calcium from dairy also assumes that kids will only eat diets of fish fingers and potato smilies, with a glass of milk of course. If that’s all they’re fed that’s all they’ll want to eat.

True, but you'd still need to eat way more of those foods than is feasible, on a daily basis, to hit your daily calcium requirement.

In an ideal world you would eat a variety of those foods and decent portions of dairy. But for those who don't like dairy/object to production methods you can take calcium and vit D. Just don't rely on a few bits of broccoli for your bone health.

My kids always get enough calcium without even trying while being violently allergic to dairy. I hate the stupid fear mongering on here.

What's fearmongering about ensuring an adequate intake, Robo?