Tonight's local news announced that Fayetteville School District in Northwest Arkansas will no longer offer chocolate milk for school breakfast to decrease the sugar that kids are getting in the morning but it will remain a choice for lunch. Why would you decide to decrease milk consumption? Studies in other school systems have shown that if you remove chocolate milk as a choice, consumption will decrease. School age children are needing the nutrients in milk to support bone development during these peak bone building years. I'm not sure what rationale supports the school district's decision but I do know that flavored milk accounts for less than 3.5% of added sugar intake among children ages 6-12 and less than 2% of added sugar intake among teens. Studies have shown that children who drink flavored milk meet more of their nutrient needs, do not consume more added sugar,fat, or calories and are not heavier than non-milk drinkers.
Reasons to support flavored milk as a school breakfast choice include:
- Flavored milk provides essential nutrients for good health and kids drink more when flavored.
- Flavored milk contains the same nine essential nutrients as white milk.
- Flavored milk helps kids get three daily servings recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
- Lowfat chocolate milk is the most popular choice and kids drink less if taken away.
You can find more information about the nutritional benefits and the scientific research supporting flavored milk in child nutrition at http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/ or http://www.midwestdairy.com/. I'm raising my glass for chocolate milk! Will you join me?
No comments:
Post a Comment