Guest Columns

Perspective:
Dairy Nutrition

Dairy foods offer lifetime of benefits

Amy DeLisio

Amy DeLisio is CEO of the Dairy Council of California. She is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in public health from the University of Southern California and earned her bachelor’s degree in dietetics at Youngstown State University. She contributes this column exclusively for Cheese Market News®.

Cottage cheese isn’t just for grandmas, and milk is for more than children, too. In fact, cottage cheese is trending among Gen Z, and full-fat dairy foods are making a comeback in the eyes of adults — plus research is mounting about the health benefits of dairy foods across the lifespan.

As positive research unfolds and interest grows for food as a tool for disease treatment, management and prevention, the dairy community and marketers of dairy foods have opportunities to showcase the importance of milk, cheese and other dairy foods at every life stage.

From pregnancy and early childhood until older adulthood, each phase of an individual’s life poses unique nutritional needs, and milk and dairy foods can meet many of these needs. In addition, aging demographics reveal a significant opportunity to showcase the role of dairy foods in promoting health and well-being, as the number of Americans ages 85 and older is projected to more than double to 14.4 million by 2040 (up from 6.6 million in 2019).

• Pregnancy and early childhood

The health benefits of dairy foods start early in life. Nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood lays the foundation for optimal health, cognitive abilities, motor skills and social and emotional development. At the same time, consistent access to nutritious foods like milk, cheese and other dairy foods greatly influences brain, bone and immune health, while ensuring proper growth and development.

Dairy provides seven of the 14 nutrients identified by the American Academy of Pediatrics as key for proper neurodevelopment. Early childhood is also a crucial time to gain bone-building nutrients like calcium, potassium and phosphorus found in dairy foods.

Which dairy foods are best for the early years? While milk and water are the go-to beverages recommended by leading health authorities for young children ages 1 to 5, cheese and yogurt — rich in protein and jam-packed with nutrients — are important first foods that can be introduced with other foods at around 6 months of age.

• Child and teen nutrition + health

Dairy foods offer a unique package of nutrients that work together to provide multiple health benefits for children and teens, including energy for active lifestyles and reduced risk of developing overweight and chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease later in life.

Students can enjoy milk and dairy foods at school through meal programs designed to meet specific nutrient needs and food group requirements. Research shows that children who participate in these programs eat more nutrient-dense and high-quality foods such as milk, vegetables, fruits and whole grains than those who do not participate.

Children and teens who are lactose intolerant can get three daily servings of dairy by choosing lactose-free milk, yogurt with live cultures or aged cheeses, which contain little or no lactose and have the same benefits that other dairy foods provide.

• Adulthood

Nutrition during early and middle adulthood impacts health and quality of life in later years. Changes to metabolism and mobility mean that health-supporting habits are critical to maintain bone and muscle health, cognition and a diverse microbiome. Healthy eating patterns that include lowfat or fat-free dairy foods are associated with reduced risk for several chronic diseases, and dairy foods provide calcium and vitamin D, which are important to accruing and maintaining bone mass. Additionally, dairy foods provide high-quality protein, and many have functional health benefits that can positively impact digestive health, two topics of increasing interest during adulthood.

• Older adulthood: 55 and older

Most older adults have at least one chronic health condition, and an expanding older adult population may also contribute to a rapid rise in Type 2 diabetes cases and millions of older cancer patients. Older adults are at increased risk of developing conditions related to cognitive decline and bone and muscle mass loss, including osteoporosis and sarcopenia.

Milk and dairy foods can play a role in maintaining health and reducing risk of disease as people age. For example, lowfat dairy foods and milk reduce the risk of hypertension. Probiotic-rich yogurt reduces the risk for obesity and inflammation that are connected to chronic diseases, specifically Type 2 diabetes. Research also found that older adults who are daily yogurt consumers have a reduced risk for dementia and that yogurt intake might be inversely associated with dementia risk.

Nursing home residents who increased their intake of milk, yogurt and cheese from an average of two servings per day to three-and-a-half servings per day demonstrated a 33% reduction in all fractures after just six months and a 46% reduction in hip fractures, as well as an 11% reduction in falls.

Science reinforces that dairy foods provide benefits across the lifespan, and it is never too late to adopt healthy eating patterns, which include nutrient-dense dairy foods. Marketers of dairy foods have an opportunity to showcase dairy food’s unique benefits and, along the way, build lifelong consumers who are healthier as a result. Let’s help more people get started. Learn more at DairyCouncilofCA.org.

CMN

The views expressed by CMN’s guest columnists are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheese Market News®.

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