A friend of mine, Dr. Philip Tan-Gatue, has a unique perspective on medicine. He is a Western-medicine trained physician, but he is also a trained acupuncturist and a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. He teaches Integrative Medicine at the UP-College of Medicine.

On his blog, Dr. Tan-Gatue recently posted a very interesting article on cow's milk and children. "Traditional Chinese Medicine holds that cow’s milk is too rich for the delicate digestive system of children," he argues, and feeding (cow's) milk to children after the age of two years is, from the view of Chinese medicine, unnecessary and can actually be harmful. He adds that "if God had intended for children to drink milk all their formative years, then their mothers should naturally produce milk for more than two years."

So where should children get their calcium, according to traditional Chinese medicine? From fruits and vegetables. The rule of thumb, then, is simple. Make sure your children have enough calcium. From where? From milk, for babies. From veggies, for children.

I wonder, though, how easy this is for Filipinos to do. Many middle-class Filipinos do not like to eat vegetables. And many children, in particular, are averse to vegetables. I often wonder--purely from anecdotal evidence--whether the reason why Filipino physicians prescribe vitamin supplements to children is because they know it's a losing battle to expect most parents to feed their children a well-balanced meal.

At any rate, a few months back, Jenny posted an article that also argued that cow's milk (including formula) can be harmful for young chidren. Jenny, a breastfeeding consultant, advocates breastfeeding and lauds the benefits of extended breastfeeding. However, she also says that based on the data, children from 1-year-old who are not breastfed do not need to drink formula milk. By that age, they are expected to be getting their nutrients from solids. If parents decide to give them milk, they can give them fresh milk and switch to low-fat milk at the age of 2 (unless they are malnourished).

On the whole, I find the milk debate a very interesting one. My son is 16-months-old and he is still breastfed. However, he also occasionally drinks fresh cow's milk. I try to get organic or natural milk for him when I can, but it isn't always easy to find in the grocery.

As someone who grew up drinking milk, I'll probably continue offering milk to my son as he grows up, unless he demonstrates symptoms of lactose intolerance. I will, however, bear the experts' advice in mind and I'll try to be more meticulous in making sure he eats a lot of calcium-rich vegetables.

This article is not meant to replace the medical advice of your child's pediatrician.

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