TORONTO -- A new review of research suggests that Canadian guidelines for child milk consumption could be wrong.
in Toronto found no evidence to support the recommendation that children wean off in favour of low-fat varieties.
A systemic review of 28 studies involving 21,000 children showed that kids who drank whole milk were 40 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese. The review, , found no clinical trials and includes only observational studies.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not real clear what鈥檚 going on but I think this finding is fairly provocative and a wake-up call for us to start thinking about this and looking at it more thoroughly,鈥� said lead author and St. Mike鈥檚 pediatrician Jonathon Maguire on 麻豆传媒 Channel Monday. 鈥淥bservational research can be tricky to interpret because it doesn鈥檛 take into all the factors that happen in life which can change the story. But the fact that we didn鈥檛 find any studies supporting the current recommendation really makes us wonder about whether we鈥檙e doing the right things.鈥�
The current recommendations are based on others around the globe rather than 鈥済old standard鈥� clinical trials, which Maguire says are 鈥渄esperately needed.鈥� Since the research is lacking, there are only speculations as to why whole milk might better protect from obesity. Some suggest that whole milk is more filling and can prevent people from eating less healthy foods.
鈥淥ther people have suspected that maybe it鈥檚 a phenomenon of reverse causality where bigger children鈥檚 parents choose lower-fat milk and vice versa,鈥� said Maguire.
Until more research confirms the new findings, Maguire suggests parents continue feeding children from a 鈥渨ide variety of sources.鈥�
鈥淰ariety is very important for healthy growing children,鈥� he said.
