India too, have milk & its products as a major part of diet since millions of years. All the historical & mythological literature literally says Cow as a tree which gives life, so most of the time being called as Cow-mother. Kids of few hours to people almost near end of their life & everybody between uses milk. About till 20 years ago, many pet dogs & cats & their kids too were fed milk.

Buffalo milk is denser & thus more easily available as well as nets more money per liter as compared to cow. As a kid, in 1990, I remember the preference was Buffalo Milk, if not then cow, if not then goat milk (not available everywhere), if not then camel or sheep milk (both very rarely available).

Lactose intolerance has got its name only in last 20-30 years, before that it was commonly unaware of, same as peanut allergies are now.

Correct. In fact milk consumption is high in many places according to this chart http://chartsbin.com/view/1491

These two claims are not in conflict. Just like saying "People have been smoking for thousands of years and tobacco companies were normalizing nicotine addiction" aren't in conflict. They can both be true.*

Milk advertisement surely isn't the only factor in dairy consumption.

It focused for decades on persuading parents to give it to their children using nutritional claims.

* - Also, I'm not using tobacco to imply a devious or malicious use by the milk industry or that their products are unhealthy. No. The two industries used many of the same marketing consultants in the mid-20th century and so ended up with similar campaigns ... that's really it.

That's not the point in contestation. Specifically it's

"how obsessed we are with giving milk to kids because it’s so healthy"

The word "because" is a fascinating bridge. Whatever follows after reveals unstated assumptions hidden deep in the speakers mind.

I'm objecting to the specific premise that it's some rational decision made individually by each parent based upon nutrition.

Instead I'm claiming our cultural habit of feeding of milk to children is entirely manufactured by the organizations that produce it. There's lots of documentation to demonstrate this.

Whether or not it's a good idea is immaterial.

I've honestly never seen anyone within that research domain state otherwise, maybe you can enrich my knowledge there.

I and other readers are excitedly open to new perspectives

First let's not get into formula vs breast. That's not relavant right now since formula is designed to imitate breast.

I am aware that cows milk is not sufficient for babies. The approx age is one. The (main) reason is iron. By one most (western) children eat a sufficient diet that cows milk is a sufficient milk source.

My concern is that some parents may see the anti cows milk propaganda and not provide any milk after weaning (almond, oat etc drinks are not milk).