Children who drink non-cow’s milk–including other animal milk and plant-based milk beverages–are shorter than children who drink cow’s milk, new research suggests.
For each daily cup of non-cow’s milk they drank, children were 0.4 centimetres shorter than average for their age, according to a study published on 7 June in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For each daily cup of cow’s milk they drank, children were 0.2 centimetres taller than average.
The study suggests the more non-cow’s milk children drink, the lower their height. The height difference for a three-year-old who drank three cups of non-cow’s milk compared to three cups of cow’s milk per day was 1.5 centimetres, according to the study.