Examined herbal soy milk inhibits the growth of children

More and more people prefer milk substitutes made from soya or grain instead of cow's milk. For children, however, the new trend could lead to undesirable effects. A recent study by pediatrician Jonathon Maguire of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has shown that herbal milk can inhibit child growth. The results of the study have now been published in the American Journal of Nutrition.

Various reasons for switching to herbal products
Whether from soy, oats or almonds: Vegetable milk substitute drinks are the trend and for more and more consumers are a tasty alternative to conventional cow's milk. For some ethical reasons play a role, in others, health aspects and others just like the Taste of conventional milk is not.

Many parents prefer to give their children alternative herbal milk than cow's milk. But for the little ones that could have undesirable consequences. (Image: Brent Hofacker / fotolia.com)

Protection against allergies
Many parents, for example, prefer to give their children almond milk instead of cow's milk in order to avoid the onset of an allergy. However, children should obviously look closely here. Because according to a recent study, drinking the herbal substitutes may have undesirable effects. According to a message from St. Michael's Hospital, children who drink cow's milk are taller than peers who consume the alternative products.

Data from more than 5,000 children evaluated
For the investigation, the medical team at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto evaluated size data for a total of 5,034 children between the ages of two and six. 92 percent of the subjects drank cow's milk daily, 13 percent exclusively the plant variants.

The team came to the conclusion that the less cow milk it consumes, the smaller the child. According to the study, three-year-olds who drank three cups of 250 ml milk from soy, almonds or cereals a day were on average 1.5 cm smaller than peers who consumed as many cups of cow's milk. Children who received both cow's milk and herbal substitutes were also smaller on average than their peers.

Proteins and fats in cow's milk could be the cause
The reasons for the inhibited growth of milk substitute products were not investigated by the scientists in this study. But it is believed that fats and proteins in cow's milk play a role.

"The nutrient content of cow's milk is regulated in the United States and Canada, while the nutritional value of most non-cow's milk products is not," said Jonathon Maguire, according to the announcement from St. Michael's Hospital. "The lack of regulation means that the nutrient content varies greatly from one non-cow's milk product to another, especially with regard to the amount of protein and fat," the expert adds.

According to Maguire, two cups of cow's milk would contain 16 grams of protein, which would cover 100 percent of the daily protein requirement for a three-year-old child. On the other hand, two cups of almond milk beverage would typically only contain four grams of protein and could therefore only cover 25 percent of the daily protein requirement of a three-year-old. (No)