Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk – I Do « Back

Over the past couple weeks there has been growing buzz about flavored milk in schools. I am encouraged to see such an interest in reducing childhood obesity, but I'm concerned about the approaches being suggested – like eliminating flavored milk from the school menu. As a registered dietitian, I love plain milk too, but kids don’t get any of milk’s nutrients if chocolate milk is dumped.

Chocolate milk was the #1 after-school beverage choice for my kids and their friends. When my boys were growing up, I experienced firsthand that if chocolate milk was not in the fridge they were more likely to skip drinking milk. Likewise, kids drink less when flavored milk isn’t offered at school, in fact 35% less!
 
Milk is the #1 food source of three of the four “nutrients of concern” the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans says both children and adults need to consume more of – vitamin D, calcium and potassium. Similarly, leading health and nutrition organizations, like the American Dietetic Association and School Nutrition Association, recognize the valuable role that low-fat or fat-free milk, including flavored milk, can play in meeting daily nutrient needs.

Flavored milk accounts for less than 3.5% of added sugar intake in children ages 6-12 and less than 2% in teens. Removing flavored milk hardly moves the needle on added sugar intake but what it does remove is critical nutrients for growth and development. The chocolate milk products served in some schools have been reformulated by the dairy processors. These reformulated products are great-tasting, kid-approved flavored milk that are lower in fat, contain less added sugar and have fewer calories than before.

I think giving students the choice of both plain and chocolate milk so they can get the essential nutrients they need for growth and development is in the best interest of children. What do you think? To show your support of chocolate milk in schools, I encourage you to raise your hand for chocolate milk.