Any time a parent walks into the dreaded WIC office for their child's quarterly check up, they are inevitably being told that their child is too heavy, too short, or some other problem that they didn't have when they went to the doctor's office the last time for a check up. On March 20 Jezebel reports that in a new study done, WIC may be partly responsible for making your toddlers heavier by giving them vouchers for milk with lesser percentage fat than the whole milk vouchers they offer until your child turns two.
In the study, it is found that many parents offer their children lesser fat milk as a low calorie drink, however, it is basically water with a little milk fat in it. Most of the time, this leads to the mentality that it is okay to drink more because it is lower calories. One glass of whole milk is far more filling and nutrient rich than a few glasses of "white water" as many call it.
Dr. Mark Daniel DeBoer, an associate professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine studied 10,700 children in early childhood, under the age of five. He found that 14 percent of the heavier two year old children were drinking 1% milk. What is even more interesting is that children that started the study with an average weight who drank the 1% milk throughout the study showed a higher BMI at the end of the study and had a 57% increased chance of becoming obese when they were older.
The best theory as to why this happens is because children drinking whole milk will become more full quicker than those that aren't. Therefore, they are eating and drinking far less throughout the day than those that are drinking low fat or skim milk.
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