Eating habits are established during the first years of life. The food a person learns to eat when they are kids will, for sure, continue with them to their adult life.  For this reason, parents must be very careful what they give their kids to eat.

Cow milk is recommended after the first year of life, not before, because younger children don’t have a fully developed digestive system, and is not easily digested.

But don’t wait too long after their first year to begin, since this could cause “milk lactose intolerance”, which causes symptoms such as colic, gas, abdominal swelling and sometimes even diarrhea.

Lactose is the natural carbohydrate of milk; and for the body to digest it, it needs an enzyme called lactase, which turns lactose into other two smaller carbohydrates:  glucose and galactose (which are easy digested).

The lactase enzyme begins its production in the body during the first year of age, and for it to continue being produced, the child needs to eat food that contains lactose, such as milk and its derivates.

Many people begin giving their children milk either, before they are one year old or much later, and in both cases, milk usually upsets the child’s stomach.  If the child is less than one year old, this is due to their undeveloped digestive system, and if it is much later, it might be that the body is not producing lactase because it has not needed it.

When this happens, fearful parents stop giving milk to their kids, sometimes for a long time, which can cause lactose intolerance.

The main problem of this is that milk does not only upset the child’s stomach, but can also be caused by other dairy products.  Therefore, the child also stops eating cheese, yogurt and ice cream.  All of these are very important sources of calcium, proteins and many other nutrients that are necessary for the optimal development of children.

By not drinking milk for a long time, it can cause us to stop drinking it ever again.  This has happened to many people, mainly during adolescence when milk is very necessary.

Children normally drink milk everyday, but many teenagers change milk for soft drinks.  Later, when they become adults, they become also aware of the importance of milk, and they try to drink it again.  Although, it might be very late for many of them since their body cannot digest it any more.

It’s common to hear people say that they “dream about drinking a glass of milk or eating a slice of cheese again”, but they cannot do it anymore because it would upset their stomachs.

For this reason, we shouldn’t sentence our kids to not being able to get the great benefits of this nutritional food in the future. When your child turns one year old, start feeding them with Coronado milk and dairy products every day.

By: Erika Campos, Licentiate.
Coronado’s Nutritional Advisor.