Flavored milk is a crucial part of school nutrition. How do we know? Because schools that offer it see increased lunch participation, and kids who drink it have better overall diets. Plus, flavored milk in schools has less sugar than flavored milk in grocery stores.
Kids need the nutrients in milk.
Milk is the number one source for three of the four nutrients of concern that kids are lacking – calcium, vitamin D and potassium – according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Drinking flavored milk can help children meet the recommendation for three daily servings of dairy foods while providing key nutrients necessary for growth and development. Additionally, kids who drink flavored milk consume more of these nutrients of concern compared to non-flavored milk drinkers.
Three 8-ounce servings of milk, flavored or not, gives kids as much…
■ Protein as four large hardboiled eggs
■ Calcium as 38 cups of raw kale
■ Vitamin D as a 6.5 oz can of sardines (approx. 15 sardines)
■ Vitamin A as approx. 1.8 cups of fortified cereal
■ Phosphorus as approx. 3 cups of cooked red kidney beans
■ Riboflavin as 0.8 cups of whole almonds
A national study showed that when you remove flavored milk from elementary schools, kids drink 35% less milk – and that number did not rebound over time. A similar study in Canada showed that overall milk consumption decreased by 48% in a four-week period.
Flavored milk in schools contributes very little added sugar to kids’ diets (6 grams, or about 4%), yet provides thirteen essential nutrients – compared to soda and fruit drinks that contribute lots of added sugar (45%) for little to no nutritional value.
Research has also shown that the tiny amount of added sugar in flavored milk does not affect behavior or contribute to hyperactivity in kids.2,3
Flavored milk drinkers are just as likely to maintain a healthy weight as other kids.
Children who drink flavored milk drink more milk overall, have better quality diets, do not have higher intakes of added sugar or fat, and are just as likely to be at a healthy weight when compared with kids who do not drink flavored milk.
For more information, visit dairymax.org