Childhood nutrition is a vital component of growth and development, with dietary choices playing a crucial role in shaping a child’s overall health. In recent years, concerns have been raised about the potential connection between excess cow milk consumption and the risk of iron deficiency or anemia in children.
In this article, we will underscore the importance of breastfeeding as a preferred choice over cow milk or packaged milk for young children.
Consequences of excessive consumption of cow milk in kids
In a country like India, cow milk is related with some of the best sources of nutrition. Therefore, cow milk is a key component of a child’s diet. However, research suggests that excessive consumption can result in numerous health complications. This may also include iron deficiency, due to the diet being improperly balanced.
Consuming cow’s milk during infancy and toddlerhood can have negative impacts on the iron levels of young children. There are several identified mechanisms that contribute to iron deficiency in this age group. One of the primary factors is the low iron content in cow’s milk, which makes it challenging for infants to acquire the necessary iron for their growth.
Another mechanism involves hidden intestinal blood loss, which is connected to the consumption of cow’s milk during infancy. This condition affects approximately 40% of otherwise healthy infants. The loss of iron through this occult blood loss decreases as children grow older and typically stops after the age of 1 year.
Furthermore, there’s a third mechanism at play, which involves the hindrance of non-heme iron absorption due to the presence of high levels of calcium and casein in cow’s milk, as suggested by this research.
In addition, consumption of cow milk produces a high renal solute load, which leads to a higher urine solute concentration than consumption of breast milk or formula, thereby narrowing the margin of safety during dehydrating events, such as diarrhea. The high protein intake from cow milk may also place infants at increased risk of obesity in later childhood. It is thus recommended that unmodified, unfortified cow milk not be fed to infants and that it be fed to toddlers in modest amounts only.
How anemia in kids can be countered
Fortification of cow milk with iron, as practiced in some countries, can protect infants and toddlers against its negative effects on iron status. It must be noted that in developed countries like the US, there is the option of packaged milk fortified with iron, which is a better choice than normal cow milk. However, experts note that breast milk is still a safer and better option for toddlers, as it is rich in iron and provides overall nutrition to kids.
Apart from that, all children should have foods that are good sources of iron, such as meat, chicken, fish, green leafy vegetables, and beans.
Cow’s milk makes it harder for the body to absorb iron. Therefore, toddlers can develop iron deficiency anemia if they drink too much cow’s milk (more than 700 ml a day) and do not eat enough foods that are rich in iron. A child who is not getting enough iron can have learning or behavioral problems, since iron is important for energy, muscle function, and brain development.
(The author, Dr. Aftab Ahmad, is a consultant paediatrics, at Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals.)
