Thais drink 4-7 times less milk than their neighbours and the rest of the world

[webfact]

Thais drink 4-7 times less milk than their neighbours and the rest of the world



BANGKOK: -- Thai people drink an average of 14 litres of milk a year which are 4-7 times less than milk consumption rate in other countries in the Asean region and the world making them shorter than the other people elsewhere, according to the study of the Health Department.

On the occasion of the World’s Milk Day today (Wednesday), Health Department director-general Wachira Pengchan urged Thai children to drink 2-3 glasses of milk per day while exercising and having enough sleep each day which will help increase their height.

He said that the nutrients in milk such as protein and calcium are vital for the growth of teeth and bones, especially fresh milk is more nutritious than flavoured milk because it contains more calcium.

The study from the Nutrition Office of the Health Department of the sour milk or yogurt, fresh milk and flavoured milk of 100 millimetres each shows that fresh milk contains 3.3 grammes of protein, 122 milligrammes of calcium, 38 microgrammes of Vitamin A, 20.21 milligrammes of Vitamin B while flavoured milk contains 2.3 grammes of protein, 101 milligrammes of calcium, 38 microgrammes of Vitamin A and 20.20 milligrammes of Vitamin B.

According to the milk consumption study of the Office of Agricultural Economics, Thais drink an average of 14 litres of milk per year compared to 60 litres/year for peoples in Asean and 103.9 litres/year for the rest of the world.

The average height of Thai male youths aged 19 is 169.5 cm and 157.5 cm for females. Adequate sleep will increase growth hormone which will increase height.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/165638


-- Thai PBS 2016-06-02

[deckape]

Most of the 'milk' here has added sugar.

[tracker1]

The amount of milk I consumed as a child and still now I should be 7 feet tall and growing ! Thais dont like milk in their whisky sodas the go !

[DavidOxon]

What's 4 times less than 5? or 3 times less than 7? Strange way to present statistics.... reminds me a bit of 'better then 50% off'

[mihalis]

Hmmm I see a lot of children drinking milk in Thailand as an adult you don't need it !

[Andaman Al]

Thai children to drink 2-3 glasses of milk per day while exercising and having enough sleep each day which will help increase their height.

More's the pity that consuming such an amount of milk will not increase intelligence in the good Health Department Director General. His statement is absolute nonsense. Cows milk is tasty but when it comes to goodness, it is good for calves. It would be interesting to know that if Thais drink so much less milk what percentage of the population in Thailand suffer from Osteoporosis. Consumption of high quantities ofCows Milk is now considered to be one of the main causes of Osteoporosis. That should be plain to measure in Thailand if milk consumption is so low, but to suggest it will effect your height is akin to saying a thousand boats in the Chao Phraya river will make flood waters disappear faster.

[Gsxrnz]

I doubt they included measuring the Thai consumption of condensed milk. Probably 10 times the international average.

[dcnx]

But consume more alcohol than their neighbors.

[zyphodb]

I thought that SE Asians didn't have the enzyme in their stomach enabling them to digest milk anyway, or is this a urban myth? Perhaps one of our medical exports could enlighten us on this?

[BaldPlumber]

I thought that SE Asians didn't have the enzyme in their stomach enabling them to digest milk anyway, or is this a urban myth? Perhaps one of our medical exports could enlighten us on this?

And in the absence of any medical experts, wild, uninformed speculation will do nicely.

[UKJASE]

Milk is relatively expensive here, something needs to be done to bring its price down

[FloridaExport]

Most of the 'milk' here has added sugar.

Interesting that they didn't add in that stat. It probably jumps from 5 grams of sugar for 100ml of whole milk to 25 grams of sugar for flavored "milk".

[bheard]

"He said that the nutrients in milk such as protein and calcium are vital for the growth of teeth and bones, especially fresh milk is more nutritious than flavoured milk because it contains more calcium."

What he should be stressing is that flavoured milk has lots of added sugar. Therefore don't drink it!

[todlad]

What's 4 times less than 5? or 3 times less than 7? Strange way to present statistics.... reminds me a bit of 'better then 50% off'

You are right, it's a meaningless way to represent anything. It's the modern trend though: numerate patronising the less fortunate.

4 times less!! That relates to quarters. I think most of us understand the concept of a quarter, don't we?

[Ricardo]

Most of the 'milk' here has added sugar.

Interesting that they didn't add in that stat. It probably jumps from 5 grams of sugar for 100ml of whole milk to 25 grams of sugar for flavored "milk".

And then they'd also have to publicise the sugar-levels in 'Orange Juice', and other 'juices' sold here, also on a health-image ... and start encouraging such clearly-mistaken farang ideas as low/zero-sugar foods & beverages.

Meanwhile type-2 diabetes hits 10%-and-rising !

Yay for Thai Health !

Edited June 2, 2016 by Ricardo

[todlad]

Most of the 'milk' here has added sugar.

Not only that but it tastes awful. I'm sure you have tried it but if not, try Meiji milk products.

[kwak250]

I still like strawberry/chocolate milk but miss the kfc shakes they did in the u.k

[daveAustin]

I'm sure there are many other factors affecting height... the Dutch don't drink masses more than others and look at the size of them! Trouble with Thai milk is it's relatively expensive and is watery. It's also not sweet enough for most Thais to drink straight.

Anyway, cow's milk is meant for cows. Animal protein doesn't fit with the human digestive system very well; possibly one of the myriad reasons we have so many cancers and other diseases. People would be better off suckling mommy's teat into their 40s.

[Stray]

But consume more alcohol than their neighbors.

Not according to Thanh Nien News with this (April 3, 2015) headline:

"Vietnam reconsiders late-night booze ban as it ranks first in SE Asia in alcohol consumption."

Seems every country in ASEAN wants to claim a title in something. Be it good, or bad.

[KhunOr]

There is so much wrong with this advice. Pasteurized milk and other dairy nutrition products (particularly those that are laced with sugar) are suitable only for those that like to be sick and want a diseased body. Dairy nutrition has been linked to so many health problems, too numerous to list and explain here.

The standard excuse for daily dairy consumption is we need the calcium so we have strong bones. Absolute BS. Researchers at Yale, Harvard, Penn State, and the National Institutes of Health found no evidence of this concerning dairy consumption nor does it prevent osteoporosis. In fact it causes it, as another poster said above.

The National Dairy Council (USA) itself revealed that the highly acidic altered proteins of dairy foods actually leach calcium from the body. Yale University looked at 34 studies done in 16 countries on osteoporosis rates. They found that countries that consume the most meat and dairy nutrition have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Another study found that 40 million women have osteoporosis and only 250,000 women that live in Africa have the disease. Matter of fact, of the 40 tribes that live in Kenya and Tanzania, only one, the Maasai have osteoporosis. The Maasai as it turns out are a cattle owning and dairy consuming tribe, the rest aren't.

You also get much higher levels of calcium and other minerals from fruits and vegetables. Consuming high amounts of dairy actually blocks iron absorption contributing to iron deficiency in women not to mention the calcium leaching effect on the bones. If the Health Department director is concerned about Thai children getting enough calcium consider eating high calcium foods. High calcium foods are kale, collard greens, mustard greens, cabbage, kelp, seaweed, watercress, chickpeas, broccoli, red beans, sesame seeds and raw nuts.

[Brer Fox]

What's 4 times less than 5? or 3 times less than 7? Strange way to present statistics.... reminds me a bit of 'better then 50% off'

Or like the Bank of Thailand Governor said the other day. "Thai exports are growing at the rate of minus 2%"

[KhunOr]

Oh and not forgetting obesity. Notice how many more obese Thai kids there are around today than say 20 years ago?

Breast milk is designed to take you from a baby to a 24 pound toddler in very little time. It will be the quickest growth spurt in your entire life as you triple your birth weight in 1 to 2 years.

Cows are very similar as a mother cow only produces milk after the birth of her calf. That calf will go from 90 pounds to 1000 pounds or more over the course of 2 years. That's 11 times its birth weight - an astounding amount by human standards. In order to do that this milk has to be designed with tons of sugar and fat. Sugar that feeds Candida yeast and packs on the pounds.

There is another difference between human milk and cows milk. Human milk, first and foremost, is designed to provide for the growth of the brain before body size. Cows milk is not, it is designed to make the animal get big as fast as possible.

All animals need the lactase enzyme in order to digest lactose, which is the sugar found in milk. Humans lose 90 to 95% of this enzyme between the ages of 18 months to 4 years. The lack of this enzyme and the extremely acidic nature of pasteurized milk and cheese encourage the growth of bacteria, mostly bad, in our intestines. This bad bacteria weakens the good bacteria and contributes to yeast infections and reduced immune function.

During pasteurization the milk is heated to 150 degrees for 30 minutes then the temperature is reduced to 55. This process destroys the enzymes that would allow you to digest the calcium found in the milk or cheese. So this calcium is no longer bioavailable. It destroys the minerals, b12 and b6 vitamins, good bacteria and lactic acid that protect you from disease. It alters the cortisone factors that help combat allergies, makes the sugars indigestible, and turns the fats into toxic substances.

[PomRakBKK]

Explains all the ladyboys and feminization here. Everyone drinks SOI milk - high estrogene, no testosterone. Just an idea..

Edited June 2, 2016 by PomRakBKK

[Stray]

Is the article discussing how much fresh milk Thais drink or how much milk product is consumed? There is an huge difference.

If it is discussing the drinking of fresh milk, must be some huge guzzlers of milk in other ASEAN countries if Thais only drink 14 litres of milk/year and Vietnamese drink a whopping *5.1 litres of fresh milk/year.

*Source, Thanh Nien News, September 12, 2014.

"Local milk production was estimated at 456,400 tons in 2013, meeting only 28 percent of local demand for the product, (Nguyen Dang Vang, chairman of the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Association) said. Per capita milk consumption was estimated at 18 liters, including 5.1 liters of fresh milk last year."

[manarak]

what is the fascination with height ?

tall people are annoying.

[CGW]

If you start to alter nature from its natural state is it still healthy or as healthy? unpasteurized milk has a short shelf life so best to convince folks that pasteurized is so much better!

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/raw-milk-vs-pasteurized-milk/

[mtls2005]

Most/all post-pubescent Thais are lactose intolerant.

I think many improvements could be made in child nutrition here, but that might mean listening to outside experts rather than relying on "traditional" methods. Whether that involves more or less milk, I couldn't say.

Cost, production, storage, transport, distribution are all challenges for dairy products here.

[sanukjim]

If the milk was alcohol they would be one of the worlds heaviest milk drinkers.

[Moti24]

But consume more alcohol than their neighbors.

Got to ween them onto Laokhao at an early age; otherwise, how would they cope later in life without their daily shot!

[overherebc]

what is the fascination with height ?

tall people are annoying.

Yeah I know, we keep tripping over short people.