Maintaining the health and optimal growth of children is a top priority for every parent. One important factor in ensuring that children get enough nutrition is choosing the right milk, especially for those who experience weight loss problems. In this article, we present the latest 2024 guide on how to choose the appropriate milk to increase a child's weight in a healthy and effective way. Let's take a look at the following tips!

The principle that applies to both increasing and decreasing body weight, both in adults and children, is by regulating calorie intake. For infants aged <12 months, look for milk with 100 kcal calories in 100 ml of milk. Meanwhile, for children aged 1-2 years, look for milk with a calorie amount of ≥100. After the child reaches the age of 2 years, formula milk is no longer needed. Instead, you can give "regular milk" such as full cream UHT with a total calorie content between 160-200 calories per serving.

Make sure that the child receives nutrition intake that supports optimal absorption by their intestines. This nutrient absorption can be enhanced with the help of probiotics and micronutrients such as zinc, vitamin C, AA, and DHA. These nutrients can be obtained from daily food and also from milk. In the table on the milk product packaging, you can see a column indicating the values of 'Zinc', 'Vitamin C', 'DHA', and 'AA', and marking the milk products that contain them.

If the results of a medical consultation indicate that a child has a problem digesting lactose, it is recommended to avoid giving milk from animal sources. Instead, a better solution is to switch to plant-based formula milk such as soy milk. However, plant-based milk has deficiencies in its nutritional content compared to milk from animal sources. To overcome this deficiency, children who experience lactose intolerance need to consume a larger amount of soy milk when trying to gain weight.

In some situations, sometimes a child may have consumed a lot of food, but their weight does not increase. This may be due to the child consuming a large amount of food, but the nutrition mainly comes from carbohydrates and lacks protein and fat. Therefore, it is recommended to ensure that the child receives sufficient intake of protein and fat, considering milk that has a high content of protein and fat.