When pregnant and thinking of things I wanted to help my children be someday (loving, inquisitive, healthy, etc.), tall never actually came up on my list. I figured it was pretty much up to genetics, and as long as I didn't do something that knowingly stunts growth, like smoking while pregnant, they'd grow to the height determined by their DNA. Turns out, there was something I could have done to make them taller people.
It's simple and, unfortunately, not something I did (sorry, kids!). But if you're pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, it's something you may want to consider.
A new study has shown that children of women who drink at least one glass of milk per day while pregnant are more likely to be taller throughout their lives. According to Medical Daily, more than 800 women and their babies were followed over a 20-year period. What researchers found is that the children of the women who drank a quarter of a pint of milk a day (about one glass) were taller than those whose moms drank less than that.
They don't say how much taller, but as a not-so-tall person (whose mother, incidentally, hates milk), I can say that every little fraction of an inch counts.
Perhaps more significantly than the link to height, they also found that teens of moms who had drank more milk had high levels of insulin, which is linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Go, milk.
I (like my own mother) actually can't stand milk and didn't drink a single glass of it while pregnant, but I do make sure I get plenty of calcium and especially did so while I was pregnant. As of now, my son is pretty average for height, while my daughter is off-the-charts tall. So who knows? There are definitely more factors at play than just milk. Had I known it was this significant, however, I may have tried a little harder to choke down a glass or two though. Drink up, mamas.
Will this/would this have changed your milk-drinking habits while pregnant?
Image via Edd Prince/Flickr
