Live data from Hacker News

3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

cbc.ca

31–40 of 76 posts

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#31
post #2

Some non-dairy milks are labeled "not a substitute for infant formula". This is important because infants fed them in place of formula or breast milk have suffered severe malnutrition and even died. Babies' and small children's nutritional requirements are different from adults'. This study is looking at "children aged two to six" (ages at which formula or breast milk would no longer be necessary to sustain life), an…

You're one of the good ones. It's as though, for some, this perspective jeapordizes veganism as a movement, which is ridiculous.

Yeah, there are very good arguments for veganism but raw health isn't typically one of them. I'd say reducing cruelty to animals is the best one.

But almond or soy instead of cow's milk? That's nuts.

[hah pun not intended]

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#32
post #3

Is shorter always bad? With all the growth hormones given to cows it'd make sense some would go through to the milk and likely affect kids, wouldn't really be a good thing...

I thought if that, but This is a Canadian study.

Canadian diary industry is very different from the US, so it's not obvious that you'd find hormones in the milk (there are per cow milk production quotas). Certainly not in the quantities found in US milk.

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#33
post #3

Is shorter always bad? With all the growth hormones given to cows it'd make sense some would go through to the milk and likely affect kids, wouldn't really be a good thing...

I thought if that, but This is a Canadian study.

Canadian diary industry is very different from the US, so it's not obvious that you'd find hormones in the milk (there are per cow milk production quotas). Certainly not in the quantities found in US milk.

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#34

It's sort of criminal that they're even allowed to label bean juice as milk. Im not 100% convinced of the necessity of drinking milk or that height is particularly a good proxy for health as a metric. But vegans should be under no illusions that almond milk or soy milk is any kind of milk substitute. And if they're giving it to infants instead of breastfeeding or formula, it's borderline neglect. I think that there a…

From a culinary perspective, they're very similar. From a dietary perspective, adult humans don't have a dietary requirement of consuming dairy milk.

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#35
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growth hormones are banned on Canadian dairy farms.

Artificial growth hormones may be banned, but endogenous ones[0] are unavoidable. Cow's milk evolved to make calves grow, this is not an avoidable minutia when attempting to comparatively characterize milk alternatives as stunting growth, but likely the central finding. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_somatotropin

Unavoidable? Hardly. You just have a veal industry on the side. Milk has been produced for millennia before hormones of any type were added.

Furthermore Canada has milk production quotas so, depending how they're set, hormones might not be necessary to max production at all.

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#36
post #32
post #3

Is shorter always bad? With all the growth hormones given to cows it'd make sense some would go through to the milk and likely affect kids, wouldn't really be a good thing...

I thought if that, but This is a Canadian study. Canadian diary industry is very different from the US, so it's not obvious that you'd find hormones in the milk (there are per cow milk production quotas). Certainly not in the quantities found in US milk.

Do you have a source for this?

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#37
post #5
post #3

Is shorter always bad? With all the growth hormones given to cows it'd make sense some would go through to the milk and likely affect kids, wouldn't really be a good thing...

Any growth hormone making it to the milk is likely to get denatured by pasteurization and further digested in the stomach.

Interesting. I've never heard of this fragility of hormones, could you expand a bit?

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#38
post #5
post #3

Is shorter always bad? With all the growth hormones given to cows it'd make sense some would go through to the milk and likely affect kids, wouldn't really be a good thing...

Any growth hormone making it to the milk is likely to get denatured by pasteurization and further digested in the stomach.

Interesting. I've never heard of this fragility of hormones, could you expand a bit?

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#39
post #21

It's sort of criminal that they're even allowed to label bean juice as milk. Im not 100% convinced of the necessity of drinking milk or that height is particularly a good proxy for health as a metric. But vegans should be under no illusions that almond milk or soy milk is any kind of milk substitute. And if they're giving it to infants instead of breastfeeding or formula, it's borderline neglect. I think that there a…

> But vegans should be under no illusions that almond milk or soy milk is any kind of milk substitute. When it comes to feeding infants, sure, but my usage of soy milk as an adult is definitely as a substitute for milk. I use it in virtually all the places cow's milk is typically used: in my cereal, coffee, mixed with chocolate syrup, in most recipes that call for milk.... No need to get so up in arms about call thin…

If you use tofu in place of beef it is not correct to call it "soy beef". Milk is a specific thing, no kind of milk comes from beans.

Re: 3-year-olds consuming alternative milks were 1.5 cm shorter on average

#40
post #3

Is shorter always bad? With all the growth hormones given to cows it'd make sense some would go through to the milk and likely affect kids, wouldn't really be a good thing...

Yeah. All else equal, I'd rather have a taller child. If I could have invested $1M in the S&P 500 at birth or be seven feet tall, I'd take the height.

7 feet is in the range where you'll encounter daily inconveniences for being tall - from having difficulty finding clothes and shoes that fit, to always having to duck your head, to having feet always sticking off the end of the bed, to having to squash in to bus, plane and car seats - or you'll have to pay a premium to avoid such things.

I'm 6'3 and still get that to some degree. I like being this tall, but I think 6'1 or 6'2 are probably around the ideal height to reap the benefits of being tall, without being too affected by the drawbacks.

Post reply on HN