The Skinny on Flavored Milk

I know school is still a couple months away from starting up, but I get these emails from Jamie Oliver and his food revolution, and he just posted one on how some states and school districts are beginning to ban flavored milk for the coming school year. This is great news! Last year, we would let Isaac get cafeteria one day out of the week. And every single time his drink was chocolate milk. It was surprising to me to find out that flavored milk has the same sugar content as an 8 ounce can of soda. Look at these facts below:

Shocking, isn't it?! I have kept soda away from the kids except for the special occasions where Isaac gets to enjoy a small amount of Sprite or Ginger Ale. But when we would go to fast food resteraunts, his drink of choice is always chocolate milk. I was feeling good about myself saying atleast I don't allow him to order soda like all the other kids in line. Some food experts would say that kids do not drink enough milk, robbing their bodies of the necessary calcium and Vitamin D found in milk, therefor flavored milk is better than no milk at all. But why no milk at all? When did our children decide that they just don't like plain milk? They have been drinking it since they were toddlers. So why the change once they hit school age? Here is an article on why milk is important for children. Nutritionists say adding a little of your own flavoring is not a problem, the problem is with the packaged milks. My kids are served plain milk twice a day, but I somehow saw no harm in them choosing bottled flavored milk when we are out. Not anymore. Here is a great website to show how drinks stack up in the sugar department: www.sugarstacks.com/beverages. Check it out! Kids Health.org also has an article on what kids should drink. Of course if you want to know how you can help your child's schools in the movement to remove flavored milk (afterall many have already removed soda cans from schools) than you can go here: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I for one will be having a conversation with my son right before school starts about how we will no longer be drinking flavored milk. Even if this means I pack him a bottle of water on his cafeteria days.