Dairy Nutrition

Osteoporosis,a bone-thinning disease, is preventable! Don’t let it happen to you! Prevention starts early. Good bone health is a lifelong process that begins in childhood. Nearly half of all bone is formed during the teen years.

Osteoporosis,a bone-thinning disease, is preventable! Don’t let it happen to you! Prevention starts early. Good bone health is a lifelong process that begins in childhood. Nearly half of all bone is formed during the teen years.

There’s something to be said for staying young at heart! What you eat has plenty to do with it. When you choose foods loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, you’re on the right track.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends three servings of low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products each day and states: “Moderate evidence shows that intake of milk and milk products is linked to improved bone health, especially in children and adolescents and is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and with lower blood pressure in adults.”

Cheese is a popular menu item with children. The essential nutrients cheese provides improves the nutritional quality of diets. Cheese is a nutrient-rich food and its beneficial roles in health make it animportant dairy food to include in a healthful diet - both at school and at home.

Although it only contributes about 5% of the calories to the U.S. diet, cheese makes significant nutrient contributions, including 21% of the calcium, 11% of the phosphorus, 9% of the protein, 9% of the vitamin A and 8% of the zinc.

Flavored Milk contributes only 3% of the total added sugars in childrens’ diets, and provides 9 essential nutrients, making it a better choice than many other beverages.

Top three reasons flavored milk is important in child nutrition programs.

Lowfat milk is packed with essential nutrients that help kids grow into strong and healthy adults. Both white and flavored milk are an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin and phosphorus, and a good source of protein, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and niacin.

It is recommended that people 9 years and older consume 3 servings of low-fat or fat-free dairy every day. However, on average, people are consuming only about 2 servings of dairy a day.1 Here are 30 ways to incorporate more dairy into your diet.

Enjoy 3 servings of milk, cheese or yogurt for stronger bones and to stave off the afternoon slump! Help your kids get on their way to three servings of dairy every day by serving one of these snacks as they arrive home from school or on their way to after-school activities.

Use the meal-time tips to incorporate dairy foods into your family’s diet and use the Meal Planner to chart your dairy servings each day.