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For Some Kids, Milk Can be Too Much of a Good Thing
Drinking more than recommended amounts tied to weight gain, study suggests
By Janice Billingsley
HealthDay Reporter
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TUESDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who drink more than recommended levels of milk may actually gain weight, rather than lose it, new research suggests.
The study was designed to examine dairy industry suggestions that drinking milk promotes weight loss, the Boston-based scientists said. Instead, they found that drinking more milk leads to overweight among teens, although those who became overweight drank more than is recommended by the National Dairy Council's dairy promotion campaign.
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"My main concern is that kids who are overweight think they can drink four or five glasses of milk as a magic bullet to lose weight. They should know that large quantities are not going to help them lose weight," said Catherine S. Berkey, a biostatistician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and lead author of the study, which was conducted by the two institutions.
A spokeswoman for the National Dairy Council said the promotion campaign says consumption of dairy products has been shown to promote weight loss in adults, but it does not make those claims for children. The council's 3-A-Day-of-Dairy campaign recommends three daily servings of milk, yogurt or cheese as a way to maintain a nutritious diet.
"Our program is aimed at adults, moms who want to lose weight. Studies find that calcium in dairy products has some effect on losing weight in combination with reducing calories and exercising. The calcium helps the body work more efficiently. But in no way, shape or form is the program ever targeted to kids," said Deanna Segrave-Daly, a dietician and council spokeswoman.
"To me this is a story about calories. If you're going to eat and drink more than is recommended, you're going to gain weight," she added.
For three years, Berkey and her colleagues followed the diets of approximately 13,000 children, aged 9 to 14 years, starting in 1996. The children were part of a Growing Up Today Study, and children of participants in the Nurses' Health Study II.
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Copyright © 2005 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 6/7/2005
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SOURCES: Catherine S. Berkey, Sc.D., biostatistician, Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston; Deanna Segrave-Daly, registered dietician, National Dairy Council, Rosemont, Ill.; Rachel Novotny, Ph.D., professor and head, Department of Human Nutrition Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu; June 2005 Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
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