I AM disappointed that the school on Gigha and indeed any other Scottish primary school should be told by the Scottish Government what sort of cow's milk they should give their pupils ("Fat chance of whole milk for school pupils, isle dairy told", The Herald, September 4). The Government is, as is often the case, behind the science.
I would refer ministers to a large study in Canada in 2016 which showed that full fat milk given to school children made them less hungry and they did not snack so much on obesity-producing foods.
The result was that the children given full-fat milk had less adipose tissue than those who were given semi-skimmed.
In addition the amount of D vitamin made available to the body by full-fat milk was significantly higher than by semi-skimmed because the vitamin is fat-soluble. One cup of full fat milk produced three times the dose of Vitamin D produced by skimmed.
The brain and nervous system is dependent on the ingestion of good quality fats in childhood in order for it to develop to its full potential. It is very important for children's health.
School milk was always full fat until the early 2000s when so-called health experts and governments decided without any proper trials that full fat was off the menu. In the last five to 10 years the role of fats in health has become far more nuanced and trans fats present in a lot of junk foods (but not in milk) have been shown to be really harmful. The fats in dairy produce, although they are partly saturated, are beneficial in children and do no harm in adults taken in moderation. But carbohydrates, especially sugars, are far more harmful, producing obesity and diabetes, heart disease, mobility problems, and huge expense to the NHS.
If anyone can show me a reason why primary school children should not drink full-fat milk, I would be pleased to read it.
Dr John Cruickshank,
Canberra, Whiting Bay, Isle of Arran.
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