Flavored Milk
Great Taste, and Nutrition, Too!
Kids are in a calcium crisis - they need more milk more often, and flavored milk can help close the gap. Flavored milk is nutrient-rich and provides the same nutrients and benefits as unflavored milk. Flavored milk provides three of the five nutrients that fall short in children’s diets, including calcium, potassium and magnesium1. Currently, more than half of children ages 2 to 8 and three out of four children ages 9 to 19 do not get the recommended daily servings of lowfat or fat-free milk or milk products2.
Flavored milk not only provides plain milk’s full nutrient-rich package, but it can also help improve overall diets. Children who drink flavored milk get more calcium in their diet, without consuming any more fat or added sugar than their peers3. According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, small amounts of sugar added to nutrient-dense foods, such as reduced-fat milk products, may increase a person’s intake of such foods by enhancing palatability, without providing excessive calories1.
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. 6th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 2005.
2. National Dairy Council, unpublished data based on the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), 1999-2002.
3. Johnson, et al. The nutritional consequences of flavored milk consumption by school-aged children and adolescents in the United States. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2002; 102(6): 853-856.
Chocolate Milk Can Help Protect Teeth Against Cavities
Why? Because chocolate milk it is a liquid, it clears from the mouth faster than other sweet foods. In addition, the calcium, phosphorous and cocoa in chocolate milk may actually protect teeth against cavities.
Support for Flavored Milk in Schools
American Heart Association Scientific Statement Addresses Flavored Milk
A recent scientific statement from the American Heart Association about added sugars and heart health supports the benefits of flavored milk. The statement, published in the journal Circulation notes that “when sugars are added to otherwise nutrient-rich foods, such as sugar-sweetened dairy products like flavored milk and yogurt and sugar-sweetened cereals, the quality of children’s and adolescents’ diets improves, and in the case of flavored milks, no adverse effects on weight status were found.”
Circulation. 2009; 120:1011-1020
More Milk Flavors Equals More Consumption
According to a recent study of school milk consumption, school nutrition programs that offer chocolate milk in addition to white milk serve more milk to students than programs in districts that offer just white milk. Furthermore, the average amount of milk served to students continues to increase as the number of different flavored milk options increases.
Information collected from milk processors and school nutrition programs showed that the average student receives 3.8 milk servings per week at school. Schools that only offer white milk provide an average of 3.0 servings of milk per week to students. Schools that also offer chocolate milk provide an average of 3.6 servings of milk per week to students. With more than half of children ages 2-8 and three-quarters of children ages 9-19 not getting the recommended daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk or milk products, flavored milk can help close the gap.
Source: Annual School Milk Survey 2008-2009 Report