20 Questions and Answers About Milk

Milk is something that the vast majority of children grow up with, but do you have to drink milk for good health? Here you’ll learn why milk is so highly rated by families with children - and what happens if you opt out of it.

1. Do children need to drink milk?
No, but it helps. Five deciliter milk gives a child all of all the recommended daily allowance of calcium and 25 percent of recommended daily intake of vitamin D, provided that you choose vitamin D fortified milk. It is difficult from the standpoint of calcium to replace dairy products with other foods. For example, the corresponding amount of calcium found in five deciliter of milk is nearly one kilogram of broccoli or cabbage per day. In a milk-free diet, you should choose fortified products before calcium supplements. The reason being that the child will get other important nutrients and it can lead to more enjoyment of food and that much better than eating supplements (see paragraph 20 for more milk-free calcium sources).

2. Why is milk good?
The answer is simple. Milk is easy to consume you just pour it into a glass and drink. While you get 18 of the 22 nutrients the body needs. Milk is very high in nutrients, which means it provides more nutrition per calorie – and basically more food per dollar spend.

3.Can children drink too much milk?
It's never good to eat or drink excessively of anything. If a child is drinking gallons of milk and replacing other foods with milk the nutrition levels in the body can be skewed. A small child who has not started eating properly and gets bottle after bottle of milk, then can of cause not eat other foods such as meat and fish and then iron intake can become too low.

4th Provides other kinds of milk products the same amount of nutrition?
Well, almost. Milk and yoghurt provides the same amount of calcium per deciliter: 120 milligrams. The content of D- and A-vitamin may differ depending on whether the product is vitamin D enriched or not. 1-2 slices of cheese contain as much calcium as 1 deciliter of milk or yogurt.

5. How much calcium does a child need?
Recommended daily intake for children between 1 and 5 years is 600 milligrams, for children between 6 and 9 years 700 milligrams and for children between 10 and 17 years 900 milligrams. Adequate calcium during childhood is a prerequisite for building dense, strong bones. But also vitamin D and physical activity are needed. One cannot too much calcium.

6.What can happen if a child does not gets enough calcium?
Lack of calcium can inhibit the growth and eventually provide osteoporosis.

7. When can you start giving a baby milk?
Milk may be introduced as any food when the baby is around six months, such as a dash to the porridge. Yogurt can be flavored with a dollop of fruit puree. However, one should wait until the child is around a year before giving milk as a beverage, so the child does not just drink milk without the practice of eating food as well.

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