Too much milk?

Even as a new wave of dairy commercials touts eating yogurt and other dairy products as a way to shed unwanted pounds, new research shows that drinking excess milk can cause weight gain in older children.

“We’re concerned that adolescents will see the ads and conclude that drinking large amounts of milk will be an easy way to lose weight,” says lead researcher Catherine Berkey, a biostatistician at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Our research suggests that’s not the case.”

Previous studies looking at dairy products and weight loss show mixed results. “Some studies say milk causes weight gain, some say it causes weight loss, while others show no effect,” Berkey says.

In the current study, researchers surveyed more than 1,200 children from across the country, ages 9 to 14, from 1996 to 1999. Children who drank more than three servings of milk a day were 25% more likely to become overweight during the following year than those who drank two to three servings a day, the USDA recommended amount for children.

Researchers say the excess weight is because of added calories from milk. Most children in the study drank low-fat or nonfat milk, which has approximately 100 calories per serving.

Parents concerned about their child’s milk intake should talk to their pediatrician, Berkey says. “If a child is drinking more than three glasses of milk a day and has a weight issue, parents may want to replace the extra serving with water and increase physical activity.”

The research was published in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.