From A to Z: Your guide to choosing the right follow-on milk for your child's needs
How to choose the right milk for a child's needs and health?
Choosing the type of milk represents a major challenge for parents and an important decision that affects the child's long-term health and growth. In general, it is necessary to choose growing-up milk formulated for children and not to replace it with any other type such as liquid cow's milk, because growing-up milk has specific specifications and its composition meets the standards related to the child's basic needs, which include the following:[2]
Protecting the child from malnutrition
Nutritious and healthy high-value foods should be gradually introduced into the child's diet in accordance with their age as they go through different growth stages. This of course includes giving the young child growing-up milk that contains important nutrients protecting the child from malnutrition, especially since young children have limited intake of varied and new solid foods and may not get the full portions of nutrients their bodies need during rapid growth spurts. Here we reiterate that growing-up milk should be a main part of the child's diet alongside other healthy foods, according to the child's age, such as: eggs, cheese, chicken, vegetables, legumes, and others.[3][2]
Supplying the child with nutrients necessary for healthy growth
Growing-up milk for young children contains a varied and comprehensive set of nutrients specially made to ensure safe growth, representing the foundation for healthy growth in early stages, as follows:[4][5]
- Promoting physical growth, weight gain, and increased height: fortified growing-up milk contains the vitamins, proteins, and minerals necessary for the child's body growth, the building of a healthy skeletal structure, and the development of teeth. The most important of these vitamins and minerals are vitamin D, iron, zinc, and calcium, which help bones grow, increase height, and support healthy gradual weight gain all of which later enable the child to try sitting, standing, walking, and moving properly.
- Cognitive, nervous, and sensory development, and healthy brain growth: vitamin A and beneficial fatty acids such as omega-3 help support the development of the child's nervous system, maintain retinal health, and support visual functions, in addition to promoting healthy brain growth which contributes to the development of the child's cognitive abilities that appear through linking simple things together, recognizing faces, and trying to express emotions.
- Supporting and strengthening the immune system: growing-up milk formulations include nutrients necessary to support and strengthen the immune system, most importantly vitamin D, vitamin A, antioxidants, unsaturated fatty acids, as well as iron, zinc, and other minerals that boost the child's immunity and help them fight illnesses and maintain health.
Protecting the child from digestive problems
The child's digestive system develops gradually in early growth stages to be able to handle foods and soft substances introduced when trying new items. Growing-up milk helps support and improve digestive function due to its content of prebiotics (probiotics), which are beneficial bacteria similar to yeast that stimulate bowel movement and facilitate digestion, thereby reducing the child's risk of constipation and protecting against abdominal pain something not provided by other types of milk such as liquid cow's milk or others.[5][2]
In the end, there is nothing more beautiful than seeing your child grow in health and happiness before your eyes day by day, as the features and components of the world become clear to them and they are able to walk, move, and recognize people and things correctly. All this is achieved when the child receives appropriate care and a balanced diet complemented by growing-up milk formulated for the child, not any other type that may put the child's health and safe growth at risk such as liquid cow's milk. Certainly, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, and there is no room for experimentation at this critical age in a child's life — what is best is also the safest.[1][6]
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