Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
{image credit :: maria pontikis via flikr creative commons}
I get it. I really do. Get the sugar-laden milk out of the schools so that we can get our kids to drink more water and kale juice and we can curb the tide of the childhood obesity epidemic and we can all pat ourselves on the back while eating our bowls of ice cream on the couch at home.
Okay, so maybe I don’t get it.
I’m not arguing that chocolate milk is the prima beverage for kids or adults. It can add a significant amount of sugar to a child’s daily intake and potentially unnecessary calories. There are plenty of other foods and beverages that can pack a more nutritious punch ounce for ounce.
But recent research is showing that banning chocolate milk in schools leads to overall less milk consumption — in one study, approximately 10%. In 11 Oregon schools where Cornell researchers examined what happened after the ban, they found that while some kids did replace the chocolate version with white milk, they ended up throwing away 30% of it. And thus down the drain goes healthy protein, calcium, and Vitamin D.
Despite my mini-rant above, I do understand the urge on the part of schools to weigh the benefit of reducing sugar consumption heavier than the consumption of the nutrients in the chocolate milk. However, I worry that this reflects our greater cultural focus on eliminating the “bad” versus introducing and promoting the “good.” (Ugh, I hate labeling foods and bad and good and am only doing so here to reflect the way society tends to view certain items.) We’re so concerned with getting rid of trans-fats and pop and white bread and spend such comparatively little effort teaching kids to enjoy nutrient-dense foods.
To really know the net “benefit” of eliminating chocolate milk, we also have to better understand how kids are reacting to the change. Are they bringing cans of pop to school as their beverage instead? Are they replacing the sugar and chocolatey goodness they would have gotten from the milk with cookies or another slice of pizza? We have to consider what the compensatory behaviors are.
And perhaps most importantly, I worry about setting up a feeling of deprivation and restriction for kids around any food or beverage. These are kids… when you tell them they can’t have something, they’re going to react, rebel, and potentially even sneak and binge. For example, an important study showed that kids that had parents with more restrictive eating tended to eat many more marshmallows when offered. They didn’t know how to regulate themselves because they were always being denied.
In a few years when my son goes off to kindergarten, perhaps chocolate milk will be as ancient as pop rocks. (And maybe part of my reaction is born out of my particular fondness for the chocolate milk of my youth.) We could all be so glad that our kids have switched to kale juice and have lower glycemic indices. Who knows… But for now, I hope that schools work to truly better understand the implications of banning an item before doing so.
Do you think schools should stop selling chocolate milk?
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
