Dror DK.
Childhood obesity, the primary health problem
affecting children in developed countries, has been attributed in part to
changes in dietary patterns. Secular trends suggest a decrease in childhood
dairy consumption coinciding with the rise in obesity prevalence.
The objective
of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to consider evidence of
associations between dairy intake and adiposity in pre-schoolers, school-age
children and adolescents in developed countries.
Of 36 studies included in the systematic review,
sufficient data for effect size estimation and inclusion in the meta-analysis
were obtained from 22 studies. No significant association was found between
dairy intake and adiposity in the
aggregated data, although statistical heterogeneity was high (I(2) = 0.72).
Among adolescents, however, dairy intake was inversely associated with adiposity (effect size -0.26, [-0.38, -0.14],
P < 0.0001). Effect size was not predicted by exposure variable (milk vs.
dairy), study design, statistical methods, outcome variables or sex.
Interpretation of results was complicated by variability in study methods and
insufficient adjustment for relevant confounders, particularly dietary
reporting accuracy, sweetened beverage intake and pubertal development.
Despite limitations, available data suggest a
neutral effect of dairy intake on adiposity during early and middle childhood
and a modestly protective effect in adolescence.