Ask the Dietitian
By Althea Zanecosky, MS, RD, LDN
Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association
February 2010
Q: My son loves chocolate milk but I’m concerned it has too much sugar and can lead to obesity. Do sugary drinks really fuel weight gain?
A: All milk contains a unique combination of nutrients important for growth and development. Flavored milk accounts for less than 3.5 percent of added sugar intake among children ages 6 to 12 and less than 2 percent of the added sugar intake among teens. Studies have shown that children who drink flavored milk meet more of their nutrient needs, do not consume more added sugar, fat or calories, and are not heavier than non-milk drinkers.
The connection between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain has gotten a lot of attention. The supposed link between soft drinks and other sweet beverages and obesity risk is unclear and complicated, especially in youth. In a recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition there was no link found between weight gain over 5 years and teens' drinking of sugar-sweetened beverages.*
This study assessed diet, lifestyle and weight in 2,294 ethnically-diverse boys and girls in the Minneapolis/St. Paul school system. Initially, when the teens were about 15 years old, 1,289 reported drinking 7 or more servings of white milk weekly, while 1,456 said they drank sugar-sweetened punch and 1,325 said they drank sugary soft drinks up to 6 times a week. Additionally, about 1,300 of these teens said they drank up to 6 servings of apple juice or orange juice weekly. The investigators saw no overall association between consumption of sweetened beverages and the teens' weight gain over 5 years after allowing for other behaviors tied to beverage drinking habits and weight status.
However, the researchers found drinking little or no white milk tied to greater gains in body mass index (BMI); while drinking white milk nearly every day or more often seemed tied to lesser BMI gains. BMI -- calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared -- is a standard way to determine how fat or thin a person is.
Leading health and nutrition organizations – including the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association, American Heart Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical 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, and helping kids get the daily servings of milk recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
*Adolescent beverage habits and changes in weight over time: findings from Project EAT, Michelle S Vanselow, Mark A Pereira, Dianne Neumark-Sztainer and Susan K Raatz, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 90, No. 6, 1489-1495, December 2009