Parents And Nutritionist Want Chocolate Milk Out of Schools?
Posted: Friday, November 13, 2009
by Stephany Springer
I guess I really shouldn't be surprised at this point. The options for kids lunches continue to dwindle with every day a new statistic coming out about childhood obesity.
But Chocolate milk? Really? The Milk Industry is set to launch a new campaign this month, "Raise your hand for chocolate milk" campaign.
Of course someone has to complain about the emphasis on the chocolate milk. Nutritionist and educators feel that chocolate milk is too sugary. The milk industry doesn't want chocolate milk to garner the same status as the soda. In turn, The National Dairy Council and the Milk Processor Education Program are spending between $500,000 to $1 million to get the message across that chocolate milk is good.
As a parent, I serve my kids chocolate milk. We usually flavor Two percent milk, not whole milk, but my kids are far from obese.
The National Dairy Council also state, "Removing flavored milk from schools has been shown to result in a 62-63 percent reduction in milk consumption by kids in kindergarten through 5th grade, a 50 percent
reduction in milk consumption by adolescents in 6th through 8th grades, and a 37 percent reduction in milk
consumption in adolescents in 9th through 12th grades."
Do we really want to protest this as parents?
A few years back, I taught fifth grade at an inner city school when the big craze happened to remove snacks and sodas from school. It was frustrating. The kids would just get off the bus with whole bags of Fiery Hot Cheetos and two litters of orange soda. Then as a teacher, we were denied sodas because we weren't as smart as the kids to think ahead and bring from home, not to mention the money the PTO failed to take in off of those sales.
Taking stuff out of the school just makes it more appealing to the kids. Chocolate milk is healthy. There is such a thing as taking away too much for kids. Milk is something kids need and if making it a treat is a bad thing, I do not want to be a parent. Flavored milk contains the same nutrients as white milk, except more kids want it.
What are your thoughts? Should they ban chocolate milk from schools across America too?
For more information, visit online at http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/
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