Cheese

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.

More than 300 different cheeses in the U.S. and 2,000 in the world can be classified into eight categories.

What you may not know about cheese.

Because there are so many different types of cheese, it’s a nutritious choice that easily fits into most eating plans — the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) general population recommendations and many of its meal plans; the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, diabetic, Mediterranean, plant-based, vegetarian, gluten-free and low-lactose, among others.

The nutrients in cheese offer health benefits.

Cheese is a complex food made from a few simple ingredients. Cheese makers have developed thousands of varieties of cheese around the world, each with a unique taste, texture and nutritional profile. No cheese is the same — there are many standards of identity for cheese, because there are a number of ways to adjust the basic recipe to get a distinct product.

Top three reasons cheese is important in child nutrition programs.

The effects of visible cheese on selection and consumption of food groups to encourage in middle school children.

Goddard Public Schools, in Goddard, Kansas, and the Midwest Dairy Council teamed up for the 2007-2008 school year to increase cheese sales in the district and educate the students on the nutrient density of cheese.

The National Dairy Council, in conjunction with the School Nutrition Association and the Child Nutrition Foundation, conducted a study to assess attitudes and usage of cheese products in school meal programs. The information gained from this study will help the School Nutrition Association and its members better understand the trends and attitudes towards cheese products in schools.