Milk alternatives can be dangerous for toddlers 

Milk alternatives purchased from the health food section of a supermarket should not be given to toddlers, according to a new report in the journal, Pediatrics. Researchers in Atlanta reported on two cases where toddlers became very ill because of nutritional deficiencies from the intake of health food beverages. 

In the first case, a 22-month old child was admitted to a hospital. The child was breastfed until 13 months of age when his parents put him on a rice beverage. The "rice milk" was low in protein and calories. The child was considered severely anorexic. Initially, doctors had to feed the child through a tube and then added supplements of potassium, phosphorus, multivitamins, zinc and folic acid. At a one-year follow up, he was doing well on a milk-based pediatric nutritional supplement. 

In a second case, a 17-month old boy was diagnosed with rickets. Nutritional rickets were very common until the late 1920s when Vitamin D fortification of prepared milk was introduced. The boy in this case was weaned from the breast and given a soy health food beverage that was not fortified with Vitamin D. He had severe developmental problems including the inability to crawl or roll over. Doctors treated the boy with supplements and he regained his motor skills within six months. 

In both cases, the beverages had warning labels saying that the drinks were not intended for use as infant formulas. Researchers urge parents to pay attention to these warning labels.

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