Dairy Council of Florida Encourages Viewers to Raise Their Hand for Chocolate Milk
Jennifer Whittaker Sills, registered dietitian and director of school marketing for the Dairy Council of Florida, made an appearance on The Daily Buzz to speak about the “Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk” campaign. The campaign is a call to moms all over to show their support in order to keep low-fat chocolate milk in schools. The campaign was created by the National Dairy Council and the Milk Processor Education Program.
In attempts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals, some schools and lunch advocates are calling for low-fat chocolate milk to be removed from the lunch line, a move that many health professionals agree could cause more harm than good.
Jennifer told viewers that flavored milk is an important choice because it contains the same nine essential nutrients as while milk and kids will drink more when it’s flavored. “Low-fat chocolate milk is the most popular milk choice in schools and kids drink less milk, and get fewer nutrients, if it’s taken away,” she said.
“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,” Jennifer said. Flavored milk accounts for less than 3.5 percent of added sugar intake among children ages 6-12 and less than 2 percent of the added sugar intake among teens.
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. Drinking low-fat or fat-free white or flavored milk also helps kids get the 3 daily servings of milk recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and provides three of the five “nutrients of concern” that children do not get enough of – calcium, potassium and magnesium as well as vitamin D.
Learn more about the “Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk” campaign and show your support here!
Click here to read the science that supports keeping chocolate milk in schools!
