What Is the Result If Toddlers Drink Too Much Milk?

Medical Video: How to Give Your Child Liquid Medicines / Comment donner des médicaments liquides à votre enfant
The impact of drinking too much milk
1. Being overweight or obese
2. Lack of nutrients needed
3. Constipation
4. Iron deficiency anemia
So, how much maximum amount of milk should your child consume?

Medical Video: How to Give Your Child Liquid Medicines / Comment donner des médicaments liquides à votre enfant

Milk may be a mandatory food for most toddlers. After breastfeeding, children will usually be given milk to meet their nutritional needs. However, be careful about giving milk to children under five. Giving too much milk can have a negative impact on toddlers. Remember that everything that is excessive for the body is not good.

The impact of drinking too much milk

Childhood is a period of growth where a lot of nutrients are needed to support growth. Not surprisingly, the mother will be happy if her baby eats a lot and also drinks milk. However, be careful if toddlers drink too much milk, the consequences that can be caused are:

1. Being overweight or obese

Toddler children who drink too much milk can have excess weight. Milk contains a lot of protein, milk sugar, fat, and saturated fat. The extra calories he gets from milk can make toddlers gain weight. Long-term weight gain can make toddlers become overweight or obese.

If your toddler drinks about 4-6 glasses of milk every day, he will get around 600 to 900 calories per day from milk alone. This means your toddler gets half to two-thirds of his calorie needs per day from milk.

Being overweight occurs if toddlers also eat food other than drinking milk. However, the difference is the problem if toddlers only drink milk and do not want to eat other foods.

2. Lack of nutrients needed

Milk can usually make a child full and do not want to eat other foods so that this can cause children to experience a lack of nutrients that they need. Toddlers who are given milk when hungry will get used to always asking for milk, not food, when hungry. If the milk is gone, he will be full and not eat any more food.

Milk does not contain all the nutrients that the body needs. Toddler children will get the nutrients they need from eating various types of food. If he drinks a lot of milk and consumes only a few other foods, chances are he will lack nutrients that are not contained in milk.

3. Constipation

Other problems that can be caused by drinking too much milk are constipation or constipation. Drinking too much milk can make toddlers full and don't want to eat other foods anymore. This can cause problems in the digestive system of children under five. Milk does not have the fiber that children need. Coupled with children not eating other foods besides milk containing fiber, such as fruits and vegetables. So that children can experience problems when defecating.

4. Iron deficiency anemia

Other problems that can be caused if toddlers drink too much milk is the increased risk of toddlers experiencing iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia occurs when iron deficiency in the body. Iron is needed by the body to deliver oxygen through the blood to all tissues in the body.

Toddlers need enough iron for their growth period, especially needed for brain growth, while milk does not contain iron. The risk increases when children under five do not eat foods other than milk that contain high iron, such as red meat and green leafy vegetables.

The consumption of cow's milk by infants and toddlers has a bad effect on their iron reserves. This can happen because the iron content is very low in cow's milk and cow's milk can inhibit the absorption of non-heme iron because it contains high amounts of calcium and casein. Fortification of cow's milk with iron, as done in several countries, can protect infants and toddlers from the negative effects of cow's milk on iron status in the body.

So, how much maximum amount of milk should your child consume?

Because lack or excess milk will have an adverse effect on the body, a researcher named Dr. Jonathon Maguire from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto wants to find out how much milk is good for children. In a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, 500 ml or about two glasses of milk per day was sufficient to meet the needs of vitamin D and not reduce iron levels in children. This study involved 1311 healthy toddlers aged 2-5 years.