Do children have to eat cow milk every day in order to grow and develop normally, or is it not necessary to drink cow milk?
We continue to argue over this issue.
Perhaps the debate continues for several reasons.
Many years ago, a written survey of “How should I love and raise children?” was conducted at a Korean-American church in the United States, one of the Korean universities, and my pediatric clinic.
At that time, the following 23 questions and answers were conducted on 100 Korean adults who attended to Korean-American church and Korean children’s parents who came to my office for medical treatment for their children.
1. ‘Should children drink cow milk?’
A.
① 79% of people said they must eat,
② 15% of said no need to eat,
③ 6% said not sure.
2. Why do you think children must drink milk’?
· 92% said yes because for calcium intake,
· 4% said yes because to grow well and grow healthy,
· 1% said yes because milk fat is needed,
· 1% said yes because it is good in all respects,
· 1% said yes because of good nutrition supply
· 1% said yes because it was a food containing a lot of vitamins.
Parents’ answers make sense and are correct or no correct.
However, there is also an opposite theory, which will be introduced next.
Photo 157. Milk and cow milk food
Cow’s milk can cause allergies.
Copyright ⓒ 2011 John Sangwon Lee, MD., FAAP
A few years ago, the author wrote an article on cow milk in the local newspaper here, The Chronicle in English saying that “children don’t necessarily have to drink cow’s milk”.
As expected, some nutritionists in the town here wrote several articles against my opinion on cow milk in the newspaper, saying “how can children grow and develop if they don’t eat cow milk, and where can they get calcium if they don’t drink cow milk”.
In addition, there was an opinion that the content of “children don’t necessarily have to drink cow milk” in my contribution was not correct. Of course, I admitted that their argument made sense.
Picture 156. Cow milk and foods containing cow’s milk have nutritive value, but some children can have several types of cow’s milk allergies.
Copyright ⓒ 2011 John Sangwon Lee, MD., FAAP
There were also many local doctors in town who agreed with the content of my contributions and also many non-medical workers.
I did not continue the argument.
Not long ago, a mother brought her child to my pediatric office and told a medical story about her child suffering from cow milk intake, and asked what it would be oke to eat cow milk while eating Lactaid, which were used for treating lactose intolerance for life, and the child suffered from cow milk in the past.
“As soon as they came to the United States in 1968, her child had to drink 3 cups of cow milk a day like a cool cola drink because the cow milk was thought to be good for the body and very good for growing children.
If her child didn’t want to drink cow milk, her parents sweetened it with sugar and made them drink.
After that, she suffered a lot for years with symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, farting, and bloating without any reason.
She took antacids such as Tums and Maalox whenever she was sick, and she went to her doctor and then to the other doctor. After eating spicy kimchi and red pepper paste, her mother was suspicious that they could not be digested, so her mother entirely switched from Korean style foods to Western-style food.
Finally, when her parents brought her to a pediatric gastroenterologist, she was diagnosed with a disease called lactose intolerance caused by a lactase enzyme deficiency.
From then on, hr mother said my child would not drink a drop of cow milk.”
Dr. Benjamin Spocks, a pediatrician who became world sensational author of Dr. Spock’s Baby & Child Care for the first time in the United States and around the world in 1946, said recently “Children after the age of 2 years old do not need to feed cow milk if children eat the balanced diets.
After that, the American Academy of Pediatrics refuted his claim, saying, “Dr. Spocks is the leading cause of the pediatric nutritional riot.”
Thus, the cow milk dispute ended with another round.
After that, there was another big controversy over cow milk.
New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, who had a white mustache, said “advertisement of prostate cancer due to cow milk,” and his photographs appeared on the billboards. After that, he tried to set to sue PETA, which made an advertisement.
After then the cow milk drink controversy front finally arrived at Dr. Benjamin Spokes’ hometown in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.’ Cow Milk can cause infant colic, diabetes, obesity, ear problems, allergies, and many more diseases in children’.
And on a large billboard with a picture of a baby’s lips smeared with white color cow milk, news about cow milk appeared in a local newspaper in Hartford, Connecticut, where I live.
Is cow milk a really good food for growing children, or whether cow milk can be a harmful food for them, and all parents need to find out whether cow milk must be fed to their growing children?
Cow milk-drinking could cause lactose intolerance, milk allergy, galactosemia, constipation, anemia, vitamin deficiency, obesity, diabetes, hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit, etc. And also various illnesses and symptoms can be caused by cow milk intake.
If children may obtain the protein, carbohydrates, or other types of nutrients from mainly consumed cow milk, you can no longer eat other types of foods other than cow milk, which can lead to various nutritional deficiencies.
Because cow milk does not contain enough iron and vitamins C and D as necessary for growth and development, children who drink a lot of cow milk daily cannot get enough iron from cow milk, which can lead to iron deficiency anemia and vitamin C or D deficiency.
Children who eat cow milk-based ice cream or milkshakes are more likely to develop irritable gastrointestinal syndrome, which can lead to stomach aches and symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea.
Also, constipation can occur due to cow milk consumption.
Migraine, hyperactivity disorder and/or attention deficit disorder, allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic sinusitis, bronchial asthma, allergic gastroenteritis, and resulting intestinal bleeding and mucous stool, green stool, blood stool, hematuria, anemia, etc. may be caused by cows milk drinking.
Symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and fart may occur, and cow milk allergy such as growing pain, muscle pain, tension fatigue syndrome, atopic dermatitis, hives, and shock can occur in 0.5 to 2% of cow milk drinkers.
It is normal that lactose in cow milk is decomposed into glucose and galactose by the lactase enzyme secreted from the mucous membrane of the small intestine, and then the glucose and galactose are absorbed into the blood through the intestinal mucosa.
Drinking cow milk can lead to lactose intolerance in children who do not secrete enough lactase enzymes or those who secrete very little.
Lactase enzymes begin to be secreted from the intestinal mucosa before birth and are secreted very vigorously as soon as they are born, and it is common to normally digest lactose contained in breast milk or artificial nutrition.
It is common for most infants to naturally decrease the secretion of lactase enzymes in their intestinal mucosa before they reach 3-4 years old of age.
If children who do not secrete lactase enzymes eat cow milk or foods containing cow milk, lactose is not digested, and the lactose is decayed by a group of bacteria in the small and large intestines while the lactose descends into the small and large intestine.
When cow milk is decayed in the intestines, gasses such as lactic acid, organic acids, and hydrogen are produced, which can lead to symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
Lactase enzyme deficiency (lactose intolerance) can be congenital or acquired, but congenital lactase enzyme deficiency is a very rare disease.
Secondary lactose intolerance may develop due to insufficient lactase enzyme secretion during or after suffering from pancreatic cystic fibroma, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, gastrointestinal resection surgery, viral gastroenteritis, bacterial gastroenteritis, or drug-induced gastroenteritis.
Secondary lactose intolerance is caused by viral gastroenteritis, bacterial gastroenteritis, or drug gastroenteritis, and lactose intolerance will naturally heal if the lactase enzyme secretion returns to normal after the gastroenteritis is cleared.
When the secretion of lactase enzymes is temporarily reduced, avoiding cow milk or foods containing cow milk is the ideal treatment.
When children are consumed, about 240cc of milk a day, it may not cause much trouble when there is no abnormality in the gastrointestinal tract, if a small amount of lactase enzyme is secreted or if children with little or no secretion of lactase, it may not cause much trouble.
60-96% of adults of blacks, Jews, whites living in the Mediterranean, Asians, and 20% of white Americans secrete little or no lactase enzymes in the mucous membrane of the small intestine. Eating cow milk containing healthy foods can lead to lactose intolerance.
Most of the white western parents have a long time ago believed that feeding their growing young children at least three cups of cow milk a day would make them bigger and stronger bones and good teeth.
It is true that since 1915, when the electric refrigerator was invented, cow milk storage became easier, it was believed that children must eat cow milk every day, and the child-raising diet exercise was further encouraged.
And even now, there are many white Western parents who believe that.
In addition, since almost a century ago, white mothers in various countries in Europe fed their babies entirely breastfeeding for several months after birth, and nowadays, quite a few mothers are raising newborn infants through artificial nutrition instead of breastfeeding.
Members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Allergy and Asthma Division also have agreed on the runny nose, wheezing, asthma, otitis media, headache, muscle pain, chronic sinusitis, diabetes, fatigue syndrome, infant colic, atopic dermatitis, urticaria may be caused by cow milk protein. It has been reported that a high intake of cow milk may lead to more coronary artery occlusive heart disease and obesity due to saturated fat and cholesterol in cow milk.
Infants need 500-600mg, children aged 10-15 years old need 600-700mg, and adults need 400-800mg of calcium every day. If children eat enough cow milk, children can get enough calcium from cow milk intake. Eating just a balanced diet can help children get enough of the calcium they need every day.
Children who eat a lot of cow milk can also develop tooth decay and tooth enamel abnormalities, the Journal of Pediatrics reported.
In addition, Oskie, a professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, argued that many American children suffer from milk allergies.
Cow milk can be good food for children who are not allergic to cow milk and are lactose-intolerant if they eat cow milk and milk-containing foods properly every day.
Children who drink cow milk can cause a number of health problems.
That is why it is necessary to reconsider the notion that children must drink cow milk.
When feeding your children with cow milk, you should watch out for health problems caused by cow milk.
It is said that foods that are good for the Korean people in the Han Dynasty are selected through three generations.
Let foods to be the best medicine.
The following is an example of an internet pediatric and adolescent health counseling question and answer on “Please tell me about food refusal and childhood anemia”.
Q&A. Please tell me about food refusal and childhood anemia.
Q. Hello sir
This is a 30-month-old baby boy. Originally, he doesn’t eat a lot of cow milk or food, but he ate mostly cow milk up to 2 months ago, and nowadays I feed him 3 meals and feed cow milk and fruits (juice, cheese, etc.). If he does not try to eat it, and I put a spoonful of rice, he will feel sick.
I’m worried because he has constipation because he does not eat it.
I am worried if there is a serious problem with his nutritional status. I am worried and curious about how my child will eat well and gain weight like other children. Please help!
A. Dear Ji-ae
Hello. Thanks for the great question.
The more information you give me about your child’s age, gender, past medical history, family medical history, medical examination findings, clinical examination, etc., the more helpful that I can give you a better answer. I will respond based on the information you provided.
Infants of this age are required to eat the meals which their parents eat.
And you must train and encourage your child to eat foods with a spoon, a cup or a hand for the 30 months old child.
If possible, let the child eat himself with a spoon, the cup, or the hand.
Parents should not spoon-feed.
Children are independent human beings, and parents can love and care for them, but not own them.
Young children continue to seek independence from their parents at that age.
It is very important to train your children to pursue independence little by little and gradually.
It’s easy for all of our parents to make a possessive love for our children by mistake.
You shouldn’t make possessive love of your children as you own them.
Cow milk is not a balanced diet.
Therefore, he can eat at least 3 meals a day and eat other snacks.
In the United States, it is said that a child can eat 1 to 3 cups of cow milk a day, but this applies to children who eat cow milk and do not develop lactose intolerance and do not develop cow milk allergies.
If your child eats large amounts of cow milk daily, she can’t afford to eat other essential food because your child consumes most of the nutrients and energy they need each day, such as protein, fat, and carbohydrates, from the cow milk they eat every day.
So naturally, she doesn’t eat anything other than cow milk.
Drinking a lot of cow milk can lead to anemia because the cow milk component does not contain enough iron.
When your child is hungry, have her eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner 3 meals with the family, and give them snacks twice a day.
According to the growth chart, the child’s weight is in 5 percentiles. Check out the growth chart to see what percentile of the growth chart your child has followed from birth to the present.
If your child’s weight and height are growing along her growth chart percentile curve, you can think that the child’s current weight is normal. Each child has his own growth rate which is innately determined.
It is almost impossible to change the innate growth rate, and neither the parent nor the child himself can change it. In other words, the child must grow up according to the child’s growth percentile in weight and height.
When they receive regular health check-ups at their Pediatric office, you should also take a urine test, an anemia test, and consult about these problems.
Also, please consult with the pediatrician after receiving medical examination treatment. If you have more questions, please contact me again. Thank you. Lee Sang-won, M.D.