Do Filipinos drink milk?

Feeling and fearing that it could be connected to her rather thin physical appearance; the 32-year-old mother talks to her child’s teacher and also consults a pediatrician. And their advice? Make her children drink more milk.

That’s because milk when taken as part of a balanced diet plays an essential role in providing important nutrients needed in optimizing children’s physical growth and development which have a big impact on their cognitive development.

“I never thought milk would still be so important for a seven year-old kid,” says Leah.

Decreasing adequacy of milk intake

According to a study conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute: “Decreasing milk consumption with age is reflected in the decreasing adequacy of nutrient intake."

It states that Filipinos only get some 57.1% of their needed calcium per day. Calcium is important for the bones as well as to the nerve cells of the brain.

Filipino children’s milk intake dramatically declines after one year and their milk consumption is way below that recommended by nutrition experts.

In addition, a study done from March 2004 to February 2006 by AC Nielsen showed that over the two-year period, consumption of ready-to-drink and powdered milk each dipped by nine percent.

Nutrient-poor foods taking over milk

While Andrea's family is far from starving, they and many Filipino families tend to cut corners when it comes to providing proper nutrition. Junk food often takes the place of milk and fruits in the diet.

The spare money off their budget is spent on cellphone loads. When food contends with other household expenses, nutrition suffers. It is small wonder then that malnutrition is rampant, and parents like Leah are left pining for a healthier Andrea.

Around the age of seven, children usually experience taste fatigue and get tired of the taste of milk. This happens when they are exposed to soft drinks, chocolate drinks, and powdered juice. When children "outgrow" the taste of milk and avoid drinking it, parents follow suit and do not give it to them anymore.

The 1997 Formative Research on Milk and Milk products conducted by the FNRI revealed that people only bought milk if there is available spare money. Parents mistakenly believe that their kids already get enough nutrition from eating rice.

“Sadly,” explains Corazon Cerdena, who conducted the FNRI study, “milk isn’t traditionally a part of the Filipino diet.”

We need milk in our diet to support and maintain our body's growth, development and overall health. Bones, muscles, our immune system and even our eyesight all benefit from the nutrition that milk provides. In addition to plenty of protein and B-vitamins, milk contributes a significant 47% of calcium and 32% of Vitamin A in the diet.

High malnutrition rate

With such an abundance of nutrients coming from milk, it is safe to assume that low milk consumption can partly be blamed for our country's high malnutrition rates.

The 2003 study done by FNRI says that a total of 26 out of every 100 primary school-age children (aged 6 to 10 years old) were underweight and 37 out of every 100 were underheight. This translates to 2.49 million underweight children and 3.41 million underheight.

Adults should drink their milk, too

Adults aren’t spared from the ill effects of low milk consumption either. The most notable of these is osteoporosis, a condition caused by lack of calcium.

As a rich source of calcium, drinking milk has long been recommended by health experts to strengthen bones and prevent the onset of osteoporosis.

Thus, drinking milk should be a regular habit from childhood onwards.

As she prepares milk for Andrea, Leah hands over another glass to her six-year-old son. “I’ve learned my lesson,” Leah says. “I want them to learn theirs, too.”

Chris Cahilig is a Marketing Communications expert who had previously worked as a journalist and a university instructor. He covered the Health beat in 1999 for a national daily.