Hi,

Thank you for your question.

Please note the protein requirement for a sedentary person is about 0.8g/kg of body weight. What that means is that for a person who is 60kg, his protein requirement will be 48 grams.

Protein requirements for active people are between the range of [1–2]g/per kg of body weight.

Protein is made up of amino acids. They are 2 types of amino acids:

Non-Essential Amino Acids

These are the amino acids that the body can manufacture on its own.

Essential Amino Acids

These are the amino acids that the body cannot manufacture on its own and therefore are required from our dietary sources.

Meats, eggs, milk, and whey protein have all eight essential amino acids, whereas vegetarian sources have only some essential amino acids missing. However, if you combine different vegetable sources, this should not be an issue.

Coming back to the main question:

Can Kids Consume Whey Protein?

Well, not all whey proteins are created equal!  Supplements are big business, and most companies use very cheap ingredients, inexpensive processing methods, and include a lot of sweeteners like ascuflame-k, soy lecithin, sucralose etc., which can be harmful.

According to this study, many samples of top whey proteins in the market were found to have high levels of lead, cadmium etc. ¹https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/protein-drinks/index.htm

So, what this means is that you need to be very selective in choosing which brand of whey to use. Ingesting 50–75g of protein daily from food is very much possible, and supplementation with whey is not required, especially when kids don’t work out, as their protein requirement would be less when compared with kids who do work out and are active!

-One big bowl of lentil (dal) will have ~17g of high-quality protein

-2 whole eggs will give you about 12g

-250 ml milk will give you 8g

Peas, broccoli, and spinach all have protein in them. Carb sources like wheat, rice, and bread have some protein. If your kids have non-vegetarian items like chicken and fish, just 100g of these meats have around 20–30g.

So I don’t really see the need for whey unless you have a high-quality powder and give them one scoop in the form of a smoothie so that they enjoy the taste (which then helps them to curb sugar cravings and avoid sugary treats because of this smoothie!)

Related Articles:

The Ultimate Guide to consume upto 100gms of Protein if you are a Vegetarian (or a vegan )

 Protein 101: Calculating How Much Protein You Need

Choosing the Right Whey Protein Supplement: Critical Points to Remember