The nutrients included in milk and other dairy foods like cheese and yoghurt are essential for good health, proper growth, and development in infants and children. Muscle-building protein, bone-strengthening calcium and vitamin D, and other essential nutrients can all be found in dairy products. Anyone over the age of 2 should drink low-fat milk (defined as milk with 1 percent fat or less).
Advantages of selecting low-fat dairy products include:
- Less eating for better health.
- Saturated fats should be limited since they are harmful to heart health.
- Increased calcium intake promotes bone, tooth, and blood pressure health.
- Vitamins D and A content is the same or increased.
Most of the milk eaten today is either 2 percent reduced-fat or whole, in spite of the health benefits of drinking low- or fat-free milk (full-fat). Less and less of us are drinking milk with a low or no fat content (skim or 1%).
