ABSTRACT
Dairy products are recognized by international health authorities and scientific institutions as part of a healthy diet at all life stages: children, teenagers, adults, pregnant women, and older persons. Recommendations for the consumption of dairy products are mostly based on meeting the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for calcium (Dror and Allen 2014) and for their contribution to bone health (Public Health England et al. 2013). Many health authorities currently recommend two to four servings of dairy products each day. For example, two to three servings of low-fat dairy products per day in the United States, three servings of dairy products per day in France, two servings per day of nonfat and low-fat dairy in Mexico, four servings per day in Germany, and so on. Recommendations for the consumption of dairy products also vary between age groups; guidelines for children, adolescents, and adults vary between two to three, three to seven, and two to three servings per day, respectively (Dror and Allen 2014). Table 2.1 outlines examples of food-based dietary guidelines for dairy foods that are provided by authoritative national health organizations in different countries.
