Are Milk Products High in Fat or Calories?
You might be surprised how little fat or few calories milk products contribute to a balanced diet.
Milk and milk products contribute only 18% of calories and 24% of the fat consumed by children aged 4 to 18, and 12% of the calories and 18% of the fat consumed by adults age 19 or older (1).
Children aged 2 to 8 need 2 Food Guide Servings of Milk & Alternatives (2). Canada’s Food Guide recommends not restricting nutritious foods because of their fat content, as young children need energy and nutrients for growth and development (2).
Ideas for Action:
- Find out how much fat you are getting in your diet. Download or order FoodTrack™—Check on Fat.
- Choose the milk that tastes right for you. The difference in the amount of fat or calories is quite small. There is only a 70 calorie difference between a glass of whole milk and a glass of skim milk.
Check out how many calories and how much fat and calcium a Food Guide Serving of Milk & Alternatives contributes.
| Daily amounts recommended for adult women | 250 mL skim milk | 250 mL 1% milk | 250 mL 2% milk | 250 mL 1% chocolate milk | 175 mL 1.5% yogurt | 50 g part skim mozzarella | |
| Calories (kcal) | 1752 - 1907* | 88 | 108 | 129 | 166 | 110 | 127 |
| Fat (g) | 70** | Trace | 2.5 | 5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 8.2 |
| Calcium (mg) | 1000*** | 320 | 307 | 302 | 304 | 320 | 323 |
(Based on Dietary Reference Intakes For Energy, Carbohydrate, Fibre, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. National Academy of Sciences, 2002/2005 and Canadian Nutrient File, 2007b.)
* Estimated Energy Requirements for adult sedentary women 30 years old, 5’3”, at the lower and upper end of the normal Body Mass Index range.
** Maximum recommended grams of fat each day for adult women 30 years old, 5’3”.
*** Amount recommended for adult women aged 19-50
Canada’s Food Guide recommends drinking 2 cups (500 mL) of milk every day for adequate vitamin D (2). It is easy to get 2 cups of milk without adding much fat or many calories to your diet. Two cups of 2% milk provide 60% of your calcium need and only 7% of the calories and fat in an 1800-calorie diet.
Sources
(1) Statistics Canada. Canadian Community Health Survey, 2004.
(2) Health Canada. Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, 2007.