Introduction
Hispanic/Latino populations in the United States experience disproportionate rates of social, economic, and environmental disadvantages, which are associated with an array of adverse outcomes, including higher rates of food insecurity and lower access to health care.1 These factors are linked with higher rates of nutrient adequacies, obesity, and other diet-related health conditions, particularly among immigrant populations.2,3 Additionally, Hispanic/Latino American (HLA) populations experience higher rates of lactose intolerance than white Americans, which is another barrier that may potentially impact nutrient intake, diet quality, and overall health across the lifespan.4,5 Diet- and obesity-related chronic conditions are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity for HLA populations.6–9 These nutrition and health concerns are projected to increase in the coming decades.10,11 Public health efforts to reverse these trends and to improve health among HLA populations are needed. Dairy foods are important contributors to food security in the U.S. and to least-cost nutritionally adequate dietary patterns.12 Nutrient-dense dairy foods (i.e., milk, cheese, and yogurt), across a range of fat levels, have unique nutritional and bioactive properties. Higher dairy food consumption has been linked with reduced risk of nutrient inadequacies and chronic diseases in the U.S. population.13–15 Research suggests that Americans who meet national dairy food recommendations of 3 servings per day as part of a 2,000-calorie eating pattern are more likely to have higher dietary intakes of at least 9 different micronutrients (e.g., calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, choline, vitamin A, vitamin B2, and vitamin B12).16 Unfortunately, dairy food consumption has been declining for decades,13 and nearly 90% of HLA populations are not meeting recommendations for dairy consumption (Table 1).17–19
If these declines are not reversed, an increasingly greater percentage of HLA populations may not meet basic needs for multiple essential nutrients required for health and wellbeing. Thus, improving dairy food consumption among HLA populations represents a major public health opportunity, especially given that most dairy foods are affordable, accessible, and convenient sources of many of the exact essential nutrients that HLA populations are currently underconsuming. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative review is to help inform the medical community of the potential public health benefits of improving dairy food consumption to meet recommended levels among HLA populations at different life stages.
Methods
To better understand the evidence regarding the role of dairy foods in supporting HLA health across the lifespan, a review of the literature was conducted. The literature review focused on relevant findings on dairy foods (i.e., milk, cheese, yogurt, and kefir) and nutrient intakes among HLA populations and selected health outcomes for each of the major life stages (i.e., pregnancy and lactation, early childhood, school age and adolescence, adulthood, older adulthood). Emphasis was placed on the role of nutrient-dense dairy foods in reducing risk of diseases that disproportionately impact HLA populations. Inclusion criteria included original observational and clinical research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, authoritative dietary guidelines, and U.S. national survey data that had been published in the last 10 years. Studies on both healthy and unhealthy populations were included, as were both long-term and short-term interventions. Exclusion criteria included non-peer-reviewed studies and studies on populations with history of eating disorders, bariatric surgery, gastrointestinal disorders, or medications that directly impact appetite and metabolism. IRB approval was not required for this work.
Search Strategy: Researchers used PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to conduct a review of the published literature focused on the topics of dairy food consumption, lactose intolerance, nutrient intake, diet quality, and health outcomes for each life stage through the end of December 2025. Search terms for health outcomes for each life stage were: Pregnancy and Lactation (‘fertility’, ‘pregnancy complications’, ‘pregnancy loss’, ‘pre-term birth’, ‘fetal growth’, ‘maternal health’, ‘gestational diabetes’, ‘preeclampsia’, ‘gestational age’, ‘birth outcomes’, ‘birth weight’, ‘birth length’, ‘birth defects’, ‘lactation’, ‘breastfeeding’; Early Childhood (‘growth’, ‘development’, ‘complementary feeding’, ‘transitional feeding’, ‘height’, ‘weight’, ‘BMI’, ‘head circumference’, ‘critical cognitive bundle’); School-Age and Adolescence (‘body weight’, ‘body composition’, ‘childhood obesity’, ‘bone health’, ‘bone mineral density’ ‘puberty’,); Adulthood (‘obesity’, ‘body composition’, ‘BMI’, ‘adiposity’, ‘fat mass’, ‘cardiovascular disease (CVD)’, ‘type 2 diabetes (T2D)’, ‘cardiometabolic’); Older Adulthood (‘lean mass’, ‘muscle function’, ‘sarcopenia’, ‘osteoporosis’, ‘osteopenia’, ‘frailty’, ‘fractures’, ‘bone mineral density’, ‘cognitive function’, ‘dementia’, ‘neurodegenerative disease’, ‘mortality’). The search focused on human studies with an emphasis on HLA populations. Relevant public health websites were also reviewed such as those from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The bibliographies of all included resources were also reviewed for additional works.
Pregnancy and Lactation – Maternal Health, Fetal Development, Birth Outcomes
Pregnancy increases maternal nutrient needs to support maternal health and child development, while lactation increases maternal nutrient needs to support milk production.20 Evidence reviews and authoritative guidelines indicate that dairy foods are associated with healthy pregnancy through their contributions of important micronutrients (i.e., vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, choline, iodine, selenium, zinc) and high-quality protein, with potential underlying benefits linked via mechanistic research with unique fatty acids, polar lipids, prebiotic oligosaccharides, and other bioactive components like MFGM and live and active cultures.20–23 While dietary guidelines recommend 3 servings of dairy foods per day for adults, including pregnant and lactating mothers,20 most HLA mothers fall short of these recommended levels during these nutritionally vulnerable life stages.17 Low maternal dairy consumption during pregnancy and lactation can place HLA mothers and their children at risk of multiple nutrient inadequacies and their associated physiological consequences (e.g., cardiometabolic conditions for mothers and developmental delays for children).24,25 A growing body of observational evidence links the consumption of dairy foods with maternal and child health outcomes, suggesting reduced risk for gestational diabetes, postpartum depression, preeclampsia, maternal hypertension, maternal inflammation, and small for gestational age (SGA) birth.26–33 The majority of research on dairy food consumption and maternal and child health has been observational and conducted in white populations. Further research is needed among pregnant and lactating mothers and also HLA populations specifically.
Early Childhood – Birth to 4 years – Growth and Development
Breast milk is recommended as the sole source of nutrition until 6 months of age. Around 6 months of age, certain dairy foods (i.e., yogurt, kefir, cheese) can serve as ideal first foods for complementary feeding and can play important roles in providing essential nutrients and bioactive compounds that may support early life growth, neurocognitive development, gut health, and immune function.34,35 Whole dairy milk is recommended for introduction around 1 year of age to help meet nutrient demands during this phase of rapid growth and development.20,36 Once complementary feeding starts, HLA children are at greater risk for food insecurity, age-inappropriate complementary feeding patterns, excess sugar and sodium intake, and obesity relative to young white children.37–40 Improving nutrient-dense food consumption may help combat many of the negative health effects experienced by HLA youth.
For young children, dairy foods are the top dietary sources of calcium and vitamin D.41 Young children who meet dairy food recommendations are also significantly more likely to meet recommended intake levels for vitamin A, vitamin B12, choline, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium.16 These nutrients are needed for proper musculoskeletal development and metabolic health. On the other hand, low dairy consumption or avoidance during these nutritionally vulnerable early years may put children at risk for multiple nutrient inadequacies and health conditions that reverberate through the lifespan.42–44 Furthermore, research shows that as HLA children transition from toddlerhood to pre-school age, their nutritional needs are less likely to be met due to higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and lower consumption of milk.17,42,45 Therefore, strategies to improve healthy beverage consumption patterns, such as selecting milk or water over SSBs and other calorie-containing beverages in the first few years of life may be prime targets for helping to support early life development and long-term health for HLA populations.46
School-Age and Adolescence (5-17 years) – Body Weight and Bone Health
Energy demands and nutrient needs increase significantly during middle childhood and adolescence.20 Maximal bone and muscle accretion occur during adolescence and depend on adequate intakes of nutrients such as protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin D.20 Yet, HLA adolescents tend to have lower calcium and vitamin D intake than at any other life stage.13,47,48 At the same time, HLA adolescents are overconsuming SSBs and total calories and have significantly higher rates of overweight and obesity (OW/OB) compared to the national average.17,43 Higher prevalence of obesity among HLA children tend to emerge before 5 years of age.49 Notably, studies conducted in school-aged children and adolescents suggest that dairy foods across a range of fat levels may contribute to healthy bone development and body composition.50–53 However, additional clinical research on full-fat and reduced-fat dairy foods and body weight/composition in children are needed that control for energy intake and tease out the role of different dairy food matrices on fat absorption, satiety, and metabolism.
Given the large percentage of nutrient inadequacies and OW/OB among HLA populations across the lifespan, targeted education and intervention efforts are needed to close nutrient gaps and improve health during the highly formative years of childhood and adolescence. Strategies that promote national dietary recommendations for dairy foods for these life stages - as part of an overall balanced and nutrient-dense eating pattern - are needed to help support a strong foundation for the future health of HLA populations.20,43 Continuing to fall short of dairy food recommendations puts HLA children and adolescents at higher risk for preventable health conditions, including obesity and chronic disease development.
Adulthood (18+ years) – Obesity and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk
Cardiometabolic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are leading causes of death for HLA adults.54 Given the high rates of obesity and cardiometabolic disease among HLA adults, teamed with inadequate consumption levels of dairy foods, there is clearly an opportunity to improve nutrition and health of this population.13,55–59 An extensive body of research indicates that higher dairy food consumption across a range of fat levels is associated with neutral to favorable effects on body weight and cardiometabolic disease risk in adults.52,60–63 There are many plausible biological mechanisms for dairy’s cardiometabolic health effects, and it may be that these effects are manifold, relating to health-promoting properties of multiple important nutrients (e.g., high-quality protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K2), an array of bioactive components (e.g., bioactive peptides, short chain- and odd-chain fatty acids, polar lipids, lactic acid bacteria and their fermentation metabolites in fermented dairy foods), as well as the unique dairy food matrices in which these components are housed and delivered.22,23
The effects of higher dairy food consumption may be more favorable for populations with poor diet quality and poor health at baseline.5,64 Therefore, HLA populations with low dairy food consumption and/or poor cardiometabolic health may potentially see greater health benefits from increasing dairy food consumption compared to those with good cardiometabolic health and/or those who are already consuming ~3 daily servings of dairy foods. Since HLA adults suffer from high rates of obesity and cardiometabolic disease and also tend to underconsume dairy foods, there is a major opportunity for improving nutrition and health of HLA adults through the implementation of tailored education and intervention practices focused on increasing consumption of nutrient-dense dairy foods.
Older Adulthood (60+ years) – Degenerative Diseases, Disability, Mortality
To maintain optimal muscle and bone mass in the face of changing hormone levels and activity patterns, older adults tend to require equal or greater amounts of protein, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12, while at the same time requiring fewer calories.20,65 To properly address these changing dietary needs, older adults require more nutrient-dense eating patterns. Dairy foods are unique amongst the food groups in their ability to provide a unique package of important nutrients (e.g., high-quality protein, healthy fats, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and vitamin K2) that can benefit the metabolic, musculoskeletal, and brain health of older populations.66–69 Several systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses published within the last decade have indicated that higher dairy food consumption in older populations is linked with better bone, muscle, and brain health, such as greater bone mineral density,70 reduced incidence of bone fractures,71 improved measures of muscle mass,72 and better memory and executive function.73 To meet their nutrient demands and support healthy aging, older adults may benefit from prioritizing protein-rich dairy foods, fermented dairy foods, and those that have been fortified with vitamin D.20,66,74
Conclusion
Dairy foods are a leading dietary source of multiple essential nutrients in U.S. diets that are needed to prevent nutrient deficiencies, maintain optimal physiological function, and reduce chronic disease risk across the lifespan. Based on our review, the regular daily consumption of nutrient-dense dairy foods can provide an affordable, accessible, and practical strategy to help support nutrition and health across the lifespan for HLA populations.
Funding
This work was supported by an educational grant from National Dairy Council.
Declaration of Competing Interest
K.B.C. works for the California Dairy Research Foundation. He is also the founder of OMNI Nutrition Sciences and collected consulting fees for his work on this manuscript. All the other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Andie Lee Gonzalez for her thoughtful review of the manuscript.