Chocolate Milk: Goodbye to Chocolate Milk Mustaches?

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Imagine you’re back in grade school.
It’s your favorite lunch. (Whatever that was, mine was always pizza!)
You get you lunch and you sit down next to your best friend, and you look up to see a poster:

GOT MILK? 

It has one of your favorite sports players on it rocking a milk mustache.
You laugh and turn to your friend, showing off your own chocolate milk mustache and they do the same. 
Life’s good.

Fast forward to today. 

The chocolate mustache may be no longer...

The Department of Education is debating on whether or not to ban chocolate milk consumption in the New York City public schools. Consumption of chocolate milk is being associated with high amounts of sugar consumption, as it contains 20 grams of total sugar, 8 gram of which are added sugar, compared to white milk with just 12 grams of total sugar. 

Interestingly enough, chocolate milk still contains a comparable amount of protein and overall nutrients as white milk, hence why we encourage students to consume either during their school breakfast and lunch.

Milk, both chocolate and white, are quality sources of vitamin D and calcium, which are nutrients associated with healthy bone development, a critical concept for growing kids. Chocolate milk is also a common refueling beverage in athletes because of it nutrient components.

Lets break it down:

FAT-FREE CHOCOLATE MILK NUTRITION FACTS FOR 1 CUP (8 OZ)                         FAT-FREE WHITE MILK NUTRITION FACTS 1 CUP (8 OZ)
Image courtesy of Rockview Farms                                                       Courtesy of Borden Dairy
http://www.rockviewfarms.com/product/fat-free-chocolate-milk/                               https://www.bordendairy.com/product/skim-milk/

Comparably, this fat-free chocolate milk product (some products may vary in nutrient content breakdown) contains 30% of daily calcium, and 25% of daily vitamin D recommendations, similarly, if not more than the fat-free white milk. Although the sugar content is higher within the components of the chocolate milk, it is still providing a solid source of protein to students. 

Reports are associating a rise in childhood obesity in New York City with the consumption of chocolate milk, with an increase in obesity in the past 30 years, and 40% of NYC students ages 6 through 12 are classified as overweight or obese.

Numbers are hard to ignore when childhood obesity is climbing, but it is hard to not ask the question;

Are there no other factors contributing to this epidemic?

Factors such as lack of physical activity, increased consumption of highly processed foods, or increased screen time.
Chocolate milk can not be the only culprit.



EB
References:

Leon, M. (2019). New York City considers banning chocolate milk in public schools: Report. Retrieved on September 20th, 2019, from https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-city-schools-chocolate-milk-ban

Strong, A. (2019). The dark side of chocolate milk in NYC schools. Retrieved on September 20th, 2019, from https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/the-dark-side-of-chocolate-milk-in-nyc-schools/

Comments

  1. Nicole MobleySeptember 24, 2019 at 1:00 PM

    Your post was intriguing to me. I had actually just found out about chocolate milk potentially being banned in New York City schools the other day while listening to the radio. I agree with you in the sense that the big picture needs to be analyzed. There are other factors that contribute to childhood obesity. I am concerned if chocolate milk is banned, children will turn to other beverage alternatives like juice, soda, and sports drinks. These are all full of sugar as well but without the benefits of milk.

    ReplyDelete

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