Banning Chocolate and Flavored Milk Makes Children Drink less Milk: Study

Banning chocolate flavored milk in schools led to children drinking less white milk and a drop in eating school lunches, according to a study.

Many primary schools removed children's favorite-flavored milk from the menu as they contain added sugar and have less nutritive content. Skimmed or plain milk was given instead. A research by the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs observed 11 schools in Oregon that practiced giving skimmed milk to its students and noted a 10 percent reduction in overall milk consumption and sales.  This in turn brought down the intake of sufficient protein, calcium, sugar and calories needed to support healthy growth and development in children.

It was also found that many children who did not have any alternative drank skim milk that was available in the school cafeteria and reported wasting 29 percent more than before. In addition, the study noticed a drop of 7 percent in the District's Lunch Program participation.

This new system adopted by many schools not only caused a nutritional imbalance but also increased costs and economic wastage.

Nicole Zammit, former Assistance Director of Nutrition Services at Eugene School District was not surprised by the children's reaction on banning chocolate milk. She said in a news release," Given that the role of the federal school meal program is to provide nutritious meals to students who may otherwise have no access to healthy foods- I wouldn't recommend banning flavored milk unless you have a comprehensive plan in place to compensate for the lost nutrients when kids stop drinking milk altogether."

With the soaring incidence of childhood obesity in the U.S. and worldwide, experts recommend parents and care givers to keep a strict watch over their children's dietary and lifestyle habits. Various researches and experiments in the past suggest eating up to seven servings of fruits and vegetables help ward off disease like diabetes, blood pressure and heart diseases in later years.

The authors in this study believe school must focus in finding new methods and food options that encourage children to adopt healthy eating habits instead of writing off flavored milk from the menu.

Brian Wansink, co-author and Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab said," There are other ways to encourage kids to select white milk without banning the chocolate. Make white milk appear more convenient and more normal to select. Two quick and easy solutions are: Put the white milk in the front of the cooler and make sure that at least 1/3 to 1/2 of all the milk is white."

More information is available online in the journal PLOS ONE.

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