Switching toddlers from full fat to skimmed milk in an attempt to stop excess weight gain does not work, a new study has found.

Infants up to the age of two are recommended to drink full fat milk only. In Ireland, skimmed milk is not recommended until the age of five, although low fat milk can be consumed after the age of two.

However, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association currently recommends that all children over the age of two should consume low fat or skimmed milk in order to stop excess weight gain.

According to US scientists, until now, it has been unclear whether this recommendation has actually had any effect on children's weight, so they decided to investigate further.

They asked the parents of almost 11,000 children about their milk consumption at the age of two and again at the age of four. The children drank either full fat milk, semi-skimmed (low fat), skimmed or soy milk.

The scientists noted that at the age of two and the age of four, almost one in three of the children were already overweight or obese.

However, they found that the heavier children were more likely to consume skimmed or semi-skimmed milk. In fact, 14% of the overweight two-year-olds and 16% of the overweight four-year olds drank the lower fat milks compared to 9% of normal weight two-year-olds and 13% of normal weight four-year-olds.

In fact, the average weight of those who consumed full fat milk appeared to be lower than the weight of those who drank the lower fat varieties.

The scientists from the University of Virginia said that overall, the type of milk consumed did not appear to affect weight trends over time. As a result, drinking low fat milk does not appear to reduce excess weight gain in toddlers.

The team acknowledged that the overweight children may have gained even more weight had they not consumed the low fat milk. However, they also noted that the normal weight two-year-olds who regularly consumed the lower fat milks were 57% more likely to become overweight by the age of four.

They suggested that this may be because full milk fat increases the feeling of fullness, which may in turn reduce a child's appetite for other fatty foods.

They said that rather than recommending low fat milk, more attention should be given to other weight control measures, such as reducing the amount of time children watch television, reducing their consumption of sugary drinks and increasing their consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood.