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Youngsters who skimp on milk and other dairy food to avoid calories actually appear to substantially increase their risk of becoming overweight, a study found.
Several reports in recent years have shown health benefits of dairy products, despite their fat content. The latest research shows an unusually striking effect on weight as children go through their teens.
Pediatricians say too much weight is now the most common medical condition of childhood. The problem has doubled over the past two decades, and about 15 percent are now considered overweight or obese.
While the overall cause is too much food and too little exercise, many studies are attempting to tease apart the precise changes in habits that are driving this health hazard. Several were reported Thursday at a meeting in San Francisco of the American Heart Association.
Lynn Moore, an epidemiologist at Boston University School of Medicine, found that just two servings of dairy food a day are linked to a substantial reduction in adolescent fatness.
Childhood dairy intake has been falling for the last 20 years, in part as youngsters' preferences have switched from milk to soft drinks. During this time, soda consumption has risen by 300 percent.
Another factor, though, has been fat phobia. Youngsters "consume less and less as they get older," Moore said. "Adolescent girls in particular are concerned about eating dairy because they think it will make them fat."
However, her research, based on the Framingham Children's Study, found just the opposite is true. The analysis was financed largely by the National Health, Lung and Blood Institute with additional funding from the National Dairy Council.
Several studies - including Moore's - have shown that children and adults who consume adequate amounts of dairy foods have lower blood pressure. Some researchers have put adults on diets with increased dairy and found, to their surprise, that they also seem to lose weight.
Dr. Stephen Daniels, associate chairman of the heart center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, noted that the benefit was seen with a relatively modest amount of dairy food and that overdoing it could mean large amounts of extra fat calories.
"You shouldn't take home from this that you need to eat as much dairy as you can, but it should be part of an overall healthy diet," he said.
He also noted that no study has yet shown that adding milk to youngsters' diet actually helps them control weight. He said those who get regular dairy foods may weigh less because they eat more home-cooked meals or have breakfast each morning.
Among other findings of Moore's study:
Youngsters who ate moderate amounts of fat - between 30 percent and 35 percent of total calories - weighed less than those who ate either more or less.
Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables was also associated with lower weight.
Contrary to one popular theory, the glycemic index of children's diet - the amount of fast-burning carbohydrates - had no bearing on eventual weight gain.
Just how dairy food might moderate weight gain is a mystery. Moore speculated that calcium or some other nutrient in milk might help influence the way the body stores energy in fat cells. Or perhaps dairy foods simply make children feel less hungry.