A study by British and Australian researchers has revealed that children who eat plenty of dairy foods may live longer.
Research which began in the 1930's tracked 4,374 British children, age 4 to 11, over a 65 year period and the results suggest that those with a diet rich in dairy foods live longer.
Milk is an excellent source of calcium and the children who ate plenty of dairy foods such as milk and cheese appeared to be protected against stroke and other causes of death, even though dairy products often contain fats and cholesterol which fur up the arteries and high consumption of dairy products did not raise the heart disease risk.
The study examined family diets and as well as the health, growth and living conditions of the children in the households and found that higher intakes of both calcium and dairy, predominantly from milk, cut mortality by a quarter and appears to support the practice of giving extra milk to schoolchildren.
A higher daily intake of calcium, of at least 400mg as found in just over half a pint of milk, cut the chance of dying from stroke by as much as 60% - three servings of dairy foods - for example, a 200ml glass of milk, a pot of yogurt and a small piece of cheese - will provide all the calcium most people need each day.