"[I] support use of dairy foods as an important source of calcium for bone mineral health and of other nutrients that facilitate growth in children and adults...

Milk and dairy-product avoidance has a negative effect on calcium and vitamin D intake in infants, children, and adolescents. Other nutrients such as protein make dairy products an important source of nutrition for growing children."

Sept. 2006 - Melvin B. Heyman, MD 

"Milk is one-stop shopping for nutrition. It contains nearly all the basic nutrients that a growing child needs: fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals (except iron). While it is true that most of the nutrients in milk can be gotten easily from other sources, such as vegetables, legumes, and seafood, milk puts them all together in a convenient package. Realistically, children eat or drink dairy products in greater amounts and more consistently than other foods. While whole milk is not the only way to get calcium in a child's diet, it's the most practical way. Good luck serving your child a breakfast of calcium-rich broccoli, kale, and sardines."

2006 - William Sears, MD 

"Drinking three 8-oz glasses of milk per day will achieve the recommended adequate intake of calcium in children 4 to 8 years of age, and four 8- to 10-oz glasses of milk will provide the adequate calcium intake for adolescents... It is important to note that there is relatively little difference in the calcium content of reduced-fat dairy products compared with whole milk–derived products...

Pediatricians can actively promote bone health and support the goal of achieving adequate calcium intakes by children and adolescents by promoting the recommended adequate intakes."

Feb. 2006 - Frank R. Greer, MD 

"During the past two to three decades [medical literature] has identified adequate intake of nutrients from dairy foods as a common factor in the reduction of the disease burden of several common medical conditions. These include obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, kidney stones, certain outcomes of pregnancy, and some cancers...

We generated first-year and fifth-year healthcare cost savings that would accrue if adult Americans simply increased their intake of dairy foods to the currently recommended 3 to 4 servings/day. Using conservative estimates of potential benefit, we project first-year savings of approximately $26 billion and 5-year cumulative savings in excess of $200 billion."

Jan. 2004 - David A. McCarron, MD 

"Cow's milk has become a point of controversy among doctors and nutritionists. There was a time when it was considered very desirable, but research has forced us to rethink this recommendation... Dairy products contribute to a surprising number of health problems. They can impair a child's ability to absorb iron and in very small children can even cause subtle blood loss from the digestive tract. Combined with the fact that milk has virtually no iron of its own, the result is an increased risk of iron deficiency...

Cow's milk proteins are a common cause of colic, and now the American Academy of Pediatrics has concluded that there is evidence that cow's milk may well contribute to childhood-onset diabetes. Some children have sensitivities to milk proteins that show up as respiratory problems, chronic ear problems, or skin conditions."

Spring-Summer 1998 - Benjamin Spock, MD 

"Milk contains fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, and diets high in fat and saturated fat can increase the risk of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Other dairy products, such as cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream, also contribute significant amounts of cholesterol and fat to the diet. Even low-fat and fat-free milk and dairy products carry health risks because of cholesterol. In addition, natural and artificial hormones are present in all types of milk and dairy products, regardless of fat.

Organic milk may not contain the pesticides and antibiotics that non-organic milk contains, but still can be loaded with fat and cholesterol. Even organic cow’s milk, which does not contain artificial hormones, does contain naturally occurring hormones. The combination of nutrients found in both organic and non-organic cow’s milk increases our own production of some types of hormones. These hormones have been shown to increase the risk of some forms of cancer. Soymilk and other non-dairy beverages, such as rice and nut milks, are healthy alternatives to cow’s milk."

May 31, 2007 - Neal Barnard, MD 

"The fact is: the drinking of cow milk has been linked to iron-deficiency anemia in infants and children; it has been named as the cause of cramps and diarrhea in much of the world's population, and the cause of multiple forms of allergy as well; and the possibility has been raised that it may play a central role in the origins of atherosclerosis and heart attacks...

In no mammalian species, except for the human (and the domestic cat), is milk consumption continued after the weaning period [the period of breast-feeding]. Calves thrive on cow milk. Cow milk is for calves.

In many other parts of the world, most particularly in East Asia, Africa, and South America, people regard cow milk as unfit for consumption by adult human beings."

1996 - Frank A. Oski, MD