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# Drinking Milk Leads to Lower BMI in Children
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/drinking_milk_leads_to_lower_bmi_in_children_091120090624/
- Published: 2009-11-09T18:24:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:06:31.000Z
- Description: In a doctoral thesis covering 120 healthy eight-year-olds, children who drank whole milk daily weighed about 4 kilograms less than their peers, with no similar result for medium- or low-fat milk. Author Susanne Eriksson says she does not know why.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Food, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

*By David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton*

Consuming whole milk every day seems to lead to lower body mass index in eight-year old children, according to a doctoral thesis presented on Oct 28, 2009 at the Sahlgrenska Academy. 

The study showed that children who drank whole milk every day weighed 4 kilograms less. The results did not apply to children who drank medium-fat or low-fat milk. 

"This is an interesting observation, but we don't know why it is so. It may be the case that children who drink full-fat milk tend also to eat other things that affect their weight. Another possible explanation is that children who do not drink full-fat milk drink more soft drinks instead", said dietitian Susanne Eriksson, author of the thesis. 

Drinking whole milk, which contain 3 percent fat, has been linked to lower body weight in children. However, the study also found that these children eat more saturated fat than recommended. Regardless, these children have a lower BMI than those with lower intake of fat. 

The study involved 120 healthy eight-year olds. Susanne Eriksson examined the nutrition, body composition and bone mineralization in the children, who were also surveyed for their dietary habits and measured for risky markers in their blood. 

"Many of these children had been examined when they were four years old, and we discovered that their eating habits were pretty much unchanged four years later. It appears to be the case that eating habits are established early", said Eriksson.