(Xinhua Photo) |
BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Children age between 2 and 5 are suggested to drink "half a liter or approximately two eight-ounce cups of a milk" each day,according to media reports Tuesday quoting a new study.
The suggestion was contained in the study led by Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician and researcher at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
Maguire said that inadequate milk drinking, for children, will result in less vitamin D ingest, while more than certain amount, brain-developing assistant -- iron in kids' blood -- will be taken away by the excessive ingest.
"Cow's milk is a very important staple in our western diet for children. I don't want to underestimate the importance of cow's milk," Maguire said.
But there are still controversies about the exact amount of milk that kids need to consume.
Some organizations believe that a liter a day is right to help building strong bones, while others argue that this drinking amount needs to be curtailed as "some studies have shown that kids who drink a lot of milk can have low levels of iron in their blood."
"It looks like in children who have iron deficiency severe enough to cause them to have anemia, those children have difficulties with their cognitive development. Over time they're not quite as bright as other children," Maguire said.
Maguire and colleagues conducted the study covering 1,311 healthy children from Toronto, age from 2 to 5.
Sex case leads to warnings about apps on smartphones