Leches de crecimiento. ¿Qué pueden aportar en la alimentación del niño pequeño?

Abstract

A balanced diet fulfills the requirements of all nutrients in toddlers and in children. Nevertheless, recent epidemiological surveys done in Spain have shown that there is an excessive intake of certain nutrients (e.g. protein), as well as a deficiency in some others (vitamin D, iron, docosahexaenoic acid) in this age group. The use of infant foods as well as enriched foods devoted to toddlers (for instance growing-up milks) may help to address some of these unhealthy practices. The composition of most growing-up milks marketed in Spain resembles that of the follow-up formulas, although a very few of them are not very different from a regular cow’s milk. It is interesting to consider individually each product labeled as «growing-up» milk. Milk intake should be evaluated in the frame of the whole daily diet. Beyond 12 months of age, depending on the characteristics of every toddler (including past medical history, use of restrictive diets, regular intake, etc.), regular cow’s milk, a follow-up formula or a growing-up milk, may be the healthiest choice. In this paper, nutritional requirements of the toddler period, current intake, as well as the composition and role of dairy products will be reviewed. At the same time, most frequent questions will be answered.