Dairy products in infant nutrition
Dairy products have long ago become an essential component of nutrition for a significant part of the world population. According to the Russian guidelines (the National programme for optimization of feeding infants in the first year of life in the Russian Federation), cow's milk should be introduced into the diet of children older than 1 year. Cow's milk is regarded as an important source of proteins and fats, but mainly as a unique source of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin B <sub>2</sub> and vitamin A. On the other hand, a number of problems that might appear with intake of this product should be taken into consideration, in particular, cow's milk protein allergy and lactase deficiency. But the above possible problems by no means diminish the merits of cow's milk as a valuable nutrient for children and adults. At present, the choice of dairy products is great, including a wide range of cultured milk foods. In particular, milk cocktails are tasty and nutritious. Cow's milk based products are an important component of children's diet. Milk, cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream and also new milk cocktails provide small children with essential nutrients, being a factor that maintains their health.