Are Milk and Dairy Products Associated with Childhood Obesity? What do Research Say?

Obesity among children usually results from a combination of causes and contributing factors. Is the consumption of milk and dairy products one of these factors? Obesity among children is a medical problem not to be taken lightly since it usually carries onto adolescence and adulthood. An obese person has a higher risk of diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain forms of cancers.

New European research has found that milk and dairy products do not contribute to childhood obesity. In a large-scale critical review of past research, published in 2018, Dr. Anestis Dougkas and colleagues from the Institut Paul Bocuse in France looked at data from 95 studies from 1990 to 2017, involving a total of 203,269 participants.

In their review, dairy products are defined as those that consist of milk, cheese and yoghurt,

and also contain Calcium. Butter was excluded from the review because it does not contain Ca and is considered to be a fat. In addition, most of the studies were on children 8 - 12 years old. There were few studies that include children from 1-5 years old.

After analysing the effects of full fat milk, low fat milk, and other dairy products on a child’s risk of obesity, the review found that none of the products played a role in the development of the condition. In conclusion, there is no rationale to support the claim that milk and other dairy products are associated with overweight or obesity.