According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, infants under 12 months of age should drink breast milk or special infant formula, not cow’s milk.
Doctors from around the world have confirmed this information, but is cow’s milk dangerous for young people?
Human milk is made specifically for babies, while cow’s milk contains proteins that are difficult for babies to digest and lack essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron, that babies need to grow.
“Although infant formula is made from cow’s milk, manufacturers remove and modify proteins before adding them back to the formula, along with other essential ingredients,” Kim added.
According to Kim, the final formulation of the infant formula is completely different from the cow’s milk we receive.
Kim said a baby’s intestines, kidneys, and immune system need time to mature before they can safely tolerate the new types and amounts of protein found in cow’s milk.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the high concentration of protein and minerals found in cow’s milk can stress a newborn’s premature kidneys and cause serious illness during stress. in heat, fever, or diarrhea. ” .
Kim added: “We highly recommend avoiding cow’s milk in the first year of life, and while most babies over 6 months drink cow’s milk, foreign protein can cause inflammation. through an allergic reaction in some infants. ”
According to Kim, this allergic response can lead to inflammation in the child’s intestines or microscopic bleeding in the intestinal lining, and iron deficiency in cow’s milk can lead to anemia and cause disease or non-development of child.
This risk is lower in older children who eat more of the formula between 4 and 5 months of age, Kim added. Since milk is not their only source of nutrition, they are more likely to get enough nutrients elsewhere.
Older children have more mature intestines, kidneys and immune systems to tolerate new proteins, but since newborns and babies only eat milk, it is very important that they receive a very good formula such as breast milk. mother or baby formula, Kim says.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, cow’s milk for babies under one year of age “isn’t perfect and shouldn’t be routine,” but it’s a better option than diluting formula or making homemade formula. ”
Kim explained that in cases where it may be necessary to take cow’s milk supplements in the short term, such as the lack of infant formula in the United States in 2022, the transition to cow’s milk can be done slowly. , so as not to affect the child. system. , added that attention should be paid to the signs and symptoms of any inflammatory or allergic reaction.
According to Kim, children may not have an immediate reaction to cow’s milk, but will gradually begin to vomit or have frequent diarrhea, and Kim said the worst case scenario is some blood in the stool caused by colitis. , which causes anemia The blood through the loss of protein in the blood.
“For babies who already have an aversion to dairy products or need a special formula that contains only broken down proteins or amino acids, cow’s milk before they are one year old is probably not appropriate, ”Kim added.
Kim said plant -based milk, which contains less nutrients, is not a suitable nutritional alternative for any child. But for most babies 6 months of age and older, adding cow’s milk should not cause any problems.
Source: Live Science
Source: Arabic RT
