The influence of availability of free school milk on the height of children in England and Scotland.

Abstract

SUMMARY The effect is investigated of availability of free school milk on height gain in one year of six-and seven-year-old primary schoolchildren in England and Scotland, using data collected annually from 1972 to 1976. The height gain of children for whom milk was available for the whole year of observation was compared with that of children who had no milk. Out of 16 sex-country-year-specific analyses for children from manual social classes only, 13 showed no significant evidence of greater height gain in children who had milk. Comparison of children from Social Classes IV and V (semi-skilled and unskilled) showed no greater increase in height for those who had milk, nor was there a difference in height gain between manual social class children according to the number of glasses of milk they drank a day at home or at school. We concluded that, given the standard of living at the time of the survey, the drinking of free school milk did not increase the growth rate of six-and seven-year-old children.

Milk and Growth in Children: Effects of Whey and Casein

“…Grillenberger et al [15] found no difference in growth between schoolchildren supplemented with milk compared to meat in a Kenyan study. In a study with 6-to 7-year-old children conducted in England and Scotland, Cook et al [16] found that children with free access to milk did not grow more than those with no access. Some intervention studies have examined the effect of dairy products on bone growth [17].…”

Does milk make children grow? relationships between milk consumption and height in NHANES 1999-2002

“…Rona and Chinn (1989) reported no consistent association between milk provisioning in schools and rates of growth in three samples of children of age 5-10, even when stratified by poverty status and ethnic background. Likewise, Cook et al (1979) investigated height gains among a very large sample of 6-to 7-year-old schoolchildren, and found that those with access to free milk did not grow significantly more in height than those without such access, even when socioeconomic status was accounted for. The number of glasses of milk drunk did not predict height gain in any group.…”

Role of Protein-Based Food (PBF) in Combating Undernutrition; Milk and Eggs as an Example

“…Wiley showed that younger children in the highest quartile of dairy intake had a higher body mass index (BMI) than those in the lowest two quartiles [19]. On the other hand, several studies did not support the association between ASF consumption and the physical growth of the child [20,21]. In an Indonesian study, milk consumption showed a significantly negative association with a child classified as underweight or stunted, but not with wasted children; meanwhile, the consumption of meat/poultry and eggs revealed no significant impact on all the z scores [22].…”