Why small children should not have cow's milk. Why small children should not drink cow's milk. Should goat milk be given to children under one year old?

• Whole cow's milk is oversaturated with minerals: calcium, sodium, phosphorus, chlorine, magnesium, potassium. They create “extra ballast” in the child’s body, which his functionally underdeveloped urinary system cannot cope with. As a result, children's kidneys begin to work with 2-3 times overload, trying to excrete cow's milk.
• Cow's milk contains 3-4 times more protein and sodium than breast milk. Moreover, this is a protein of a completely different quality - potentially allergenic for an infant. Allergists have found that if you give cow's milk to children in the first 3 months of life, then every 4th child will develop an allergy to milk and dairy products.
• Cow's milk contains too much casein.
• But cow's milk is low in carbohydrates.
• It contains insufficient amounts of iodine, zinc, copper, vitamins C and E, which are important for the child.
• It also contains little essential fatty acids (linoleic and a-linolenic acids) and polyunsaturated fatty acids necessary for brain development.
• The iron content in cow's milk is very low. Namely, iron is the basis for the rapidly multiplying red blood cells of a growing baby, and its deficiency can lead to the development of anemia.
• When consumed regularly by infants, cow's milk can cause gastrointestinal bleeding, especially before 6 months of age.
• It lacks folic acid, the amino acids taurine and cystine, which are necessary for the normal development of a child.
• It has been established that the early introduction of cow's milk into the infant's diet can provoke the development of diabetes. type 1 diabetes Therefore, it is recommended to completely exclude cow’s milk from the diet of a child in the first year of life if there are or have been insulin-dependent patients in the family.

Why shouldn't goat milk be given to infants?

• Goat's milk contains even more casein than cow's milk.
• The content of some vitamins and microelements in goat's milk is too high for a breastfeeding child. The baby's urinary system does not yet work properly, so this concentration of mineral salts creates a large load on the kidneys.
• Goat milk diluted to a “safe” level does not represent any value - all its properties are lost.
• The folic acid content in goat milk is very low. And this vitamin is necessary for hematopoiesis. Thus, a child fed goat's milk may develop folate deficiency anemia.
• Goat milk contains large quantities of caproic, caprylic and caprolic acids, which have a toxic effect on the child’s body.
• The ratio of calcium and phosphorus in goat milk is “disturbed” (compared to breast milk) in the direction of increasing calcium. And this slows down the absorption of these substances.
• The bioavailability of iron in goat's milk is 3.5 times lower compared to breast milk.
• Goat milk does not contain enough vitamin A and vitamin D for a baby.
• But it contains more fat than breast milk and even cow milk. Therefore, goat milk is an excellent energy product for preschool and older children, but babies in their first year of life do not yet have enough enzymes to digest this fat.
• The use of goat's milk for feeding children under one year of age leads to diapedetic bleeding from the intestines, which, combined with the low level of absorption of iron from this product, leads to the development of iron deficiency anemia.

Cow's milk, despite the fact that it has many beneficial qualities, is not welcomed by modern pediatricians in the diet of children under three years of age.

For its taste and the ability to prepare various dishes based on it, milk is loved and appreciated by many people. However, it should not be given to children under one year old, as it does more harm than good. For infants, the best nutrition option is breast milk. If it is not possible to breastfeed, then it is better to use infant formula.

Reasons why milk is banned for children under one year old

Cow's milk has a lot of nutrients, but it's too much for a baby. His body is not designed to handle the stress he experiences from drinking milk.

Dr. Evgeny Komarovsky clarifies: “Let's compare human milk and cow's milk. First of all, let's pay attention to calcium. The amount of calcium in human milk is 25 mg, and in cow's milk - 120 mg. Next is phosphorus: in women’s milk – 13, in cow’s milk – 95. How much more calcium and phosphorus there is in cow’s milk! What is most important for a calf? So that his bones grow faster, so that he grows bigger faster.

Calcium and phosphorus enter the intestines of an infant about 6 times more than necessary. Calcium absorption is regulated in a complex manner. In order for calcium to be absorbed, thyroid hormones, parathyroid hormones, vitamin D, and 2 types of amino acids are needed. They regulate the amount of calcium, and calcium is absorbed as much as needed. The rest of the calcium goes towards the butt. Phosphorus is absorbed much easier. No hormones, no vitamins. At least 1/3 of the amount that enters the intestine is absorbed.

It turns out that as much calcium is absorbed as needed, and much more phosphorus. And the kidney tries to quickly get rid of excess phosphorus. But a small child’s kidney cannot excrete phosphorus while retaining the required amount of calcium. Therefore, a child under one year old, drinking milk, does not receive calcium, but, on the contrary, removes it from the body. And no matter how much vitamin D we give, the child does not have enough calcium. But this is not forever. After a year, the kidney begins to mature, the possibilities of electrolyte metabolism improve, and milk ceases to be dangerous. And after three years, drink cow’s milk as much as you can.”

At the same time, cow's milk contains little iron, which threatens the development of iron deficiency anemia.

Research by allergists suggests that drinking cow's milk in the first three months of life dramatically increases the likelihood that a child will develop an allergy to milk and dairy products.

Goat milk is also prohibited for children under one year of age. From the age of one, milk can be introduced into the children's diet, but not more than 1-2 glasses per day. Before drinking, milk must be boiled. It is better to give preference to special baby milk. Drink milk wisely and stay healthy!

All adults and children, with rare exceptions, know the common and cheerful saying - “Drink milk, children, you will be healthy!”... However, nowadays, thanks to many scientific studies, the positive overtones of this statement have faded significantly - it turns out that not all adults And milk is really good for children. Moreover, in some cases, milk is not only not healthy, but also dangerous to health! So can children have milk or not?

Dozens of generations have grown up in the belief that animal milk is one of the “cornerstones” of human nutrition, in other words, one of the most important and healthy products in the diet of not only adults, but also children almost from birth. However, in our time, many black spots have appeared on the white reputation of milk...

Can children have milk? Age matters!

It turns out that each human age has its own special relationship with cow’s milk (and by the way, not only cow’s milk, but also goat’s, sheep’s, camel’s, etc.). And these relationships are regulated primarily by the ability of our digestive system to efficiently digest this very milk.

The bottom line is that milk contains a special milk sugar - lactose (in the precise language of scientists, lactose is a carbohydrate of the disaccharide group). To break down lactose, a person needs a sufficient amount of a special enzyme - lactase.

When a baby is born, the production of the lactase enzyme in his body is extremely high - this is how nature “thought out” so that the child could receive maximum benefits and nutrients from his mother’s breast milk.

But with age, the activity of production of the lactase enzyme in the human body greatly decreases (by the age of 10-15, in some adolescents it practically disappears).

This is why modern medicine does not encourage the consumption of milk (not fermented milk products, but the milk itself!) by adults. Nowadays, doctors agree that drinking milk does more harm to human health than good...

And here a reasonable question arises: if in a newborn baby and an infant up to one year old, the production of the lactase enzyme is maximum for his entire future life, does this mean that, if it is not possible, it is healthier for babies to be fed with “live” cow’s milk rather than from a can?

It turns out - no! Drinking cow's milk is not only not good for the health of young children, but moreover, it is fraught with a lot of dangers. Which ones?

Is milk allowed for children under one year of age?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, in the minds of a large number of adults (especially those who live in rural areas), in recent years a stereotype has developed that if a young mother does not have her own milk, the baby can and should be fed not with formula from a can, but with diluted village cow or goat milk. Like, it’s more economical, and “closer” to nature, and it’s healthier for the growth and development of a child - after all, this is how people have acted since time immemorial!..

But in fact, the consumption of milk from farm animals by infants (that is, children under one year old) carries a huge risk for children's health!

For example, one of the main problems of using cow's milk (or goat, mare, reindeer - it doesn't matter) in the nutrition of children in the first year of life - in almost 100% of cases.

How does this happen? The fact is that rickets, as is widely known, occurs against the background of a systematic lack of vitamin D. But even if the baby is, in fact, given additionally this invaluable vitamin D from birth, but at the same time feed him cow’s milk (which, by the way, itself is a generous source of vitamin D), then any efforts to prevent rickets will be in vain - the phosphorus contained in milk, alas, will become the culprit of constant and total loss of calcium and that same vitamin D.

The table below of the composition of human breast milk and cow's milk clearly illustrates which of them is the undisputed champion in calcium and phosphorus content.

If a baby consumes cow's milk under one year of age, he receives almost 5 times more calcium than he needs, and phosphorus - almost 7 times more than normal. And if excess calcium is eliminated from the baby’s body without problems, then in order to remove significant excess phosphorus, the kidneys have to use both calcium and vitamin D. Thus, the more milk the baby consumes, the more acute the deficiency of vitamin D and calcium his body experiences.

So it turns out: if a child eats cow's milk for up to a year (even as complementary foods), he does not receive the calcium he needs, but on the contrary, he loses it constantly and in large quantities.

And along with calcium, it also loses invaluable vitamin D, against the background of which deficiency the baby inevitably develops rickets. As for infant formulas, all of them, without exception, are deliberately removed from all excess phosphorus - they are, by definition, healthier for feeding infants than whole cow's (or goat's) milk.

And only when children outgrow the age of 1 year, only then do their kidneys mature so much that they are able to remove excess phosphorus without depriving the body of the calcium and vitamin D it needs. And, accordingly, cow’s milk (as well as goat’s and any other milk of animal origin) From harmful products in the children's menu it turns into a useful and important product.

The second serious problem that arises when feeding infants with cow's milk is. As can be seen from the table, the iron content in women's breast milk is slightly higher than in cow's milk. But even the iron that is still present in the milk of cows, goats, sheep and other farm animals is not absorbed by the child’s body at all - therefore, the development of anemia when fed with cow’s milk is almost guaranteed.

Milk in the diet of children after one year

However, the taboo on drinking milk in a child’s life is a temporary phenomenon. Already when the baby passes the one-year mark, his kidneys become a fully formed and mature organ, electrolyte metabolism is normalized and excess phosphorus in milk no longer becomes so scary for him.

And starting from the age of one year, it is quite possible to introduce whole cow’s or goat’s milk into a child’s diet. And if in the period from 1 to 3 years its quantity should be regulated - the daily norm fits into approximately 2-4 glasses of whole milk - then after 3 years the child is free to drink as much milk per day as he wants.

Strictly speaking, for children, whole cow's milk is not a vital and essential food product - the child can get all the benefits it contains from other products.

Therefore, doctors insist that drinking milk is determined only by the baby’s preferences: if he loves milk, and if he does not experience any discomfort after drinking it, then let him drink for his health! And if he doesn’t like it, or worse, feels bad from milk, then your first parental concern is to convince your grandmother that children can grow up healthy, strong and happy even without milk...

So, let’s briefly repeat which children can enjoy milk completely uncontrollably, which should drink it under the supervision of their parents, and which should be completely deprived of this product in their diet:

• Children from 0 to 1 year: milk is dangerous to their health and is not recommended even in small quantities (since the risk of developing rickets and anemia is extremely high);
• Children from 1 to 3 years: milk can be included in the children's menu, but it is better to give it to the child in limited quantities (2-3 glasses per day);
• Children from 3 years to 13 years: at this age, milk can be consumed according to the principle “as much as he wants, let him drink as much”;
• Children over 13 years of age: after 12-13 years in the human body, the production of the lactase enzyme begins to gradually fade away, and therefore modern doctors insist on extremely moderate consumption of whole milk and the transition to exclusively fermented milk products, in which the fermentation processes have already “worked” to break down milk sugar.

Modern doctors believe that after the age of 15, in approximately 65% ​​of the world's inhabitants, the production of the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar decreases to negligible levels. Which could potentially cause all sorts of problems and diseases in the gastrointestinal tract. This is why drinking whole milk during adolescence (and then into adulthood) is considered undesirable from the point of view of modern medicine.

Useful facts about milk for children and more

In conclusion, here are a few little-known facts regarding cow's milk and its consumption, especially by children:

• 1 When boiled, milk retains all proteins, fats and carbohydrates, as well as calcium, phosphorus and other minerals. However, harmful bacteria are killed and vitamins are destroyed (which, to be fair, have never been the main benefit of milk). So if you doubt the origin of milk (especially if you bought it at the market, in the “private sector”, etc.), be sure to boil it before giving it to your child.
• 2 It is advisable not to give a child aged 1 to 4-5 years milk whose fat content exceeds 3%.
• 3 Physiologically, the human body can easily live its entire life without whole milk, while maintaining both health and activity. In other words, there are no substances in animal milk that are essential for humans.
• 4 If, then immediately after recovery, milk should be completely excluded from his diet for about 2-3 weeks. The fact is that for some time the rotavirus in the human body “turns off” the production of the lactose enzyme - the same one that breaks down milk sugar lactase. In other words, if a child after suffering from rotavirus is fed dairy products (including breast milk!), this is guaranteed to add several digestive ailments to him in the form of indigestion, abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea, etc.
• 5 Several years ago, one of the most respected medical research centers in the world - Harvard Medical School - officially excluded whole milk of animal origin from the list of products beneficial to human health. Studies have accumulated confirming that regular and excessive consumption of milk has a positive effect on the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, as well as the occurrence of diabetes and even cancer. However, even doctors from the prestigious Harvard School explained that moderate and periodic consumption of milk is completely acceptable and safe. The point is that milk has long been mistakenly considered one of the most important products for human life, health and longevity, but today it has lost this privileged status, as well as its place in the daily diet of adults and children.

Probably even a child knows first-hand about the nutritional value of milk. It contains all the useful substances that are necessary for proper and complete development. Milk contains a huge amount of vitamins “B”, “A”, “C”, it contains a lot of different minerals, fats, proteins, carbohydrates. It is rich in sodium, calcium, phosphorus. Milk, along with meat, fish and eggs, is considered a complete food product that provides excellent conditions for the growth and functioning of the human body. Knowing and understanding this information, a logical question arises - why buy expensive formula for an infant when store shelves are full of this relatively cheap, healthy, and most importantly, natural product? Why not give cow's milk to infants if it is not possible to breastfeed the child and replace them with dry formula? The answer is simple to the point of banality - because you can’t do this! Cow's milk is an excellent drink for adults and children over 3 years old, but for infants it is a harmful product that can be very dangerous for the health of a small child. Why cow's milk should not be given to infants, at what age can it be consumed and how to properly accustom a child to it - we will tell you in this article.

Why shouldn't cow's milk be given to infants?

Cow's milk is intended for calves, and accordingly its composition is completely different from that of women's breast milk. It contains 3 times more fat, protein and mineral salts, and there is very little iron, so necessary for the growing body of a baby. It is not surprising that cow's milk is a very heavy and fatty food for infants. The stomach of an infant is not able to digest the protein of this product, as a result of which the milk simply curdles right in the baby’s stomach. The kidneys also cannot cope, because due to the age of the little man, they are not developed enough. If we compare the load on a child’s body, which is forced to process cow’s milk, with the load on a child who drinks only mother’s milk, it will be exceeded by more than 3.5 times. It is not surprising that sooner or later a child’s body malfunctions, because the intestinal mucosa of a small child is able to neutralize this aggressive effect of cow’s milk, and then partially, not earlier than one and a half to two years from the moment of his birth. As for fermented milk products, part of the protein and lactose in them is broken down, so a small child after six months is able to digest kefir or yogurt. Until this moment, children should not eat fermented milk products.

Why is cow's milk dangerous for infants?

The introduction of cow's milk into the diet of an infant is fraught with the most unpleasant consequences and is very dangerous not only for his health, but sometimes even for his life. In addition to the high likelihood of intestinal and kidney problems in an infant, regular consumption of cow's milk can also trigger the development of diabetes. A lack of iron in milk can lead to the development of iron deficiency anemia in the baby.

In addition, infants who regularly consume cow's milk are too likely to develop allergies, which has forced allergists to unanimously speak out against this drink. Doctors have found that every 4th baby who consumes cow's milk in the first 3 months of his life sooner or later becomes allergic. In addition, all these children had a weakened immune system and, as a result, caught colds and were sick more often than others. However, it should be noted that this is connected not so much with the composition of the milk itself, but with the quality of the feed that the cows consume.

When and how can cow's milk be introduced to infants?

If a child is breastfed, he should not be given cow's milk in any form, because mother's milk contains everything necessary for his full development. As a rule, only after six months do pediatricians prescribe infant formula, cottage cheese and kefir for additional nutrition for the baby. And then under the strict control of the mother, who must closely monitor the child’s condition, the functioning of his intestines and the manifestations of allergic reactions.

Only by the age of one can you use cow's milk to prepare porridge, and first you need to dilute it with water in proportions of 50 to 50. Children can drink whole milk no earlier than 2 years, and it must be boiled. And a child can receive all the benefits of this natural product without any harm to his body only after 3 years. But even at this age, children who suffer from allergies or who have problems with metabolic processes should be given cow's milk only after consultations and recommendations of gastroenterologists.