- Author: Brianna Aguayo Villalon
- Editor: Danielle Lee
- Editor: Lorrene Ritchie
Milk provides various nutrients such as calcium, protein, and vitamin D, which are essential for health and brain development. In the US, it is advised that children switch from the recommended whole cow's milk from ages 1-2 to low-fat or non-fat milk after age 2 to reduce saturated fat and calorie intake, however, few studies support this recommendation. Nutrition Policy Institute researchers and Anisha Patel with the Stanford Medicine Department of Pediatrics recently received funding for a research study from the National Institute of Health. The study, Milk Type in Toddlers or Milk-TOT, includes a randomized controlled trial that will investigate how whole and low-fat 1% milk affect child adiposity, dietary intake, and health outcomes, aiming to provide evidence-based recommendations for dietary guidelines. The California Dairy Research Foundation provided additional funding to include the assessment of the impacts of varying milk types on participating children's gut microbiota diversity, in collaboration with Justin Sonnenburg with the Stanford Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Parents or caregivers with children between 23-30 months old living in the San Francisco Bay Area may be eligible to participate in the study. The four-year project began in January 2024 and is estimated to end in June 2028. The project is led by Lorrene Ritchie as the principal investigator, and NPI researchers, Kassandra Bacon, Ryan Williams, Suzanne Rauzon, Celeste Felix, Hannah Thompson, Fanta Jimissa, Reka Vasicsek and Meirong Liao.
- Author: Danielle L. Lee
- Editor: Lorrene Ritchie
A new study from University of California and University of Michigan researchers suggests that a drive for thinness during the critical developmental years of adolescence may have long-term effects in adulthood, contributing to a greater drive for thinness and weight gain in midlife in women. Researchers compared data from 623 women from when they were in their teens to approximately 20 years later when they were in their late thirties or early forties. The data were collected through the National Growth and Health Study, a population-based cohort study of White and Black girls recruited from several U.S. communities. The study was published in the journal Obesity in November 2021. Study authors include Barbara Laraia from UC Berkeley, Cindy Leung from the University of Michigan, Janet Tomiyama from UC Los Angeles, Lorrene Ritchie and Patricia Crawford from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, and Elissa Epel from UC San Francisco. The study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Institute on Aging.