What Do Health Organizations Think of Growing-up Milk?
What Do Health Organizations Think of Growing-up Milk?
Until the age of one, if the baby is not breastfed, he is fed with infant milk, then with follow-up milk, and then growth milk around 10-12 months, until 3 years old, which meets the needs of his body.
In France, many pediatricians advise parents to give their baby growing-up milk from one year of age rather than cow’s milk because it contains a good balance of iron, calcium, and proteins. Let’s look at the properties of growing-up milk in detail.
Good to know: the World Health Organization (WHO) advises full breastfeeding until 6 months of age and to continue it during the first 2 years. Some babies who are breastfed and then weaned around 5-6 months prefer to eat a varied diet directly from a spoon and refuse to eat from a bottle. Other babies are breastfed beyond 6 months while starting a diversified diet, even beyond one year.
Composition of growing-up milk
Like other infant formulas, the composition of growing-up milk is regulated. This milk has a good balance of the following:
Iron: between 6 and 12 months, the baby does not yet eat meat which naturally contains a large amount of iron. Growing-up milk is 20 times richer in iron than cow’s milk. An iron deficiency exposes the baby to a lack of appetite, fatigue, and less resistance to infections.
Linoleic acid: growing-up milk contains five times more linoleic acid than cow’s milk. Linoleic acid is essential for brain maturation. It is effortless to digest because it is made up of vegetable fats.
Calcium and proteins: calcium is involved in bone mineralization, and proteins in tissue growth.
Vitamin A contributes to the development of vision.
Vitamin D is involved in bone mineralization by facilitating calcium absorption.
Good to know: before 6 months, the baby born at full term benefits from the iron reserves built up during pregnancy.
What do health organizations think of growth milk?
There are many different kinds of milk with dozens of brands, and France is the only European country that recommends using growth milk.
Good to know: Canada and Switzerland recommend whole cow’s milk from 9 months.
The Association Française de Pédiatrie Ambulatoire (AFPA) and the Société Française de Pédiatrie (SFP) highlight studies proving that growing-up milk is essential for young children up to the age of 3 years.
But the WHO on its side denounces the marketing too present on the sale of these growing-up kinds of milk, which aims to make us believe that growing-up dairy is better than breast milk.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has declared that growing-up milk does not provide anything necessary besides a balanced diet.
UNICEF has stated that growing-up kinds of milk do not provide anything more than whole cow’s milk, provided that the child’s diet is diversified.
The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) recommends that cow’s milk-based formulas not be used as a regular supplement to breastfeeding during the first week of life. They suggest using a breast milk bank or hydrolyzed or amino acid-based formulas if supplementation is needed.
Good to know: many pediatricians recommend the use of growth milk.
Other kinds of milk recommended for very young children
Today, more and more organic plant-based kinds of milk are being used with recognized benefits:
spelt or small spelt milk;
almond or hazelnut milk
oat milk;
chestnut milk
rice milk;
goat’s or sheep’s milk…
Depending on the brand, you will find, for example, growing-up kinds of milk costing about €1.40 per liter or growing-up types of milk costing €18 per box (which lasts about a week).
Please note: the EAACI expert committee is opposed to using soy protein-based formulas during the first 6 months of life to prevent allergies. These formulas have questions about the possible adverse effects on infants of phytates, aluminum, and phytoestrogens.