How Much Milk Should Be Given To A Toddler Every Day?

Posted on Fri, 20 Jun 2014

Question: Hello Doctor, My Daughter is 2 years 8 months old, her height is 96 cm and her weight is 18 kg. I read on web that for her age she is overweight. Is that correct? If so my question is how much milk (ml) should I give her in a day. I give her 2% reduced fat milk. Also how many eggs can she have in a week?

Answered by Dr. Vaishalee Punj (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes she is obese

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Thanks for your query.

Yes she is more than 98th percentile for weight for her age. It means that she is obese. She will need less calories though the dieting can be undertaken when she is more grown up. This is not the age for dieting or reducing the amount of foods.

Calorie reduction should take place. High calorie foods like milk products (butter, cheese, burger, pasta, icecream, chocolates, sweets, etc) should be avoided.
Milk she can take upto two glasses a day. Maybe give her 1 % milk.

Eggs she can take 1 in 2 days.

Increase the content of fruits, salad and vegetables in her diet. It has to be included at least 5 times a day.

Getting active is a must. Reduce the time of watching tv/laptop/computer to less than half an hour a day.

Hope it helps.

Dr Vaishalee

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Vaishalee Punj (21 hours later)

Hello Dr Punj,
Thanks for your reply. I have a follow-up question. You mentioned in your reply that I can give my daughter upto 2 glasses of milk. Since the glass size can be variable, could you please let me know the quantity of milk in milliliter (ml) that I can give my daughter each day.

Thanks

Answered by Dr. Vaishalee Punj (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Less than 500 ml

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Keep the amount of milk to less than or upto 500 ml.

You can also substitute milk for soy beverages, since they contain less of fat.

Dr Vaishalee

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar