Would You Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk?
November 9, 2009 at 3:25 PM by Cafe Kim - Comments (16)
The creators of the "Got Milk?" ads launched a new campaign today to convince schools to continue to serve chocolate milk to students. Their reasoning? Sugary flavorings are the only way to get kids to drink milk.
Supporters for the "Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk" campaign (including Rebecca Romijn) maintain that schools should serve chocolate milk because without it, kids choose juice, soda, and water and miss out on the calcium, vitamin D, and potassium that dairy provides. Moreover, they say that chocolate milk has only 60 calories more than white milk, and "that's nothing" compared to the nutrients they are getting.
But nutrition experts disagree, saying that chocolate milk should not be served in school because kids get too much sugar (which is heightening America's obesity problem). They believe kids will drink white milk if it's the only milk offered.
Where do you fall in this debate over whether schools should serve chocolate milk? Do your kids drink chocolate milk or white milk?
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FILED UNDER: drinks, healthy choices
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My high school served white, chocolate, and strawberry milk, along with soda and stuff and it was rare that any one would actually drink the milk, in all honestly. I would get my milk and in addition I would get a lemonade or something similar, mostly because those little freaking milk cartons are too small, it wasn't enough for me to drink with my lunch.
I would raise my hand for chocolate milk.
It depends. HFCS-sweetened chocolate milk? It depends on the specific kind as to whether or not I think it's worth it.
In school I remember them always offering white or chocolate milk but I always picked white. I didn't get a chocolate obsession until I became an adult. LOL
my 4 yr old only has MILK she has had choc milk before but she knows what she can have and not have....it is all about the parents teaching their child the right thing
at my son's school they serve a hot lunch and have a fresh fruit and veggie bar(not a "salad bar") that is served EVERYDAY. the kids get to choose which lunch to eat and my son picks the fruit and veggie bar everyday.
he also has a chocolate milk everyday with his lunch. i'm sure he'd be upset if it was taken away.
my kids eat plenty of fresh, good food every day... so why deny them the chocolate milk?
I think they should offer a non-dairy milk alternative that doesn't have pus in it.
Sorry, you asked. I'm going to run away now before people throw stuff at me.
I say yes to chocolate milk. I grew up on it, and my kids go for chocolate milk first, but like you said in the article, if white milk is their only choice, they go for sodas or whatever instead.
It sure would be nice if they could offer them chocolate soy milk, as another poster mentioned, but I can't imagine what that would cost the schools...and how many kids would be afraid to try it. :-/ I love the stuff myself.
I think I'll go get a glass of chocolate Silk right now...
Nope, not raising my hand for chocolate milk.
Contrary to popular belief (thanks to successful ad campaigns like "Got Milk"), dairy is not the best source of calcium for our bodies, plant-based sources are (50% calcium absorption from plant-based sources vs. only 32% from dairy). Plus, there are studies that show that heat pasteurization kills the enzymes in milk that allows the calcium to be absorbed by our bodies, which is another reason milk isn't the best source of calcium.
And goodness knows that with Type II Diabetes on the rise, our kids certainly don't need more sugar and/or saturated fats in their diets.
I feel that the benefits of having the flavored milk versus totally removing it are up for debate. i have seen an equal amount of kids choosing white milk versus chocolate milk in the school cafeteria. Unfortunately for some kids, this is the only milk they get all day! I know that my son usually chooses white milk.
crzymom2two Nov. 9, 2009 at 4:20 PM