Adventures in Food
The great chocolate milk debate
Photo credit: Hersheys.com
Have you been following the news on chocolate milk bans? Recently the Los Angeles school district passed a ban as a way to help address rising obesity among students. My guess is other districts will follow. Now I usually don’t take up issues like this one–I’m concentrating on getting my kids to experiment with new foods and flavors, from chocolate bacon to roasted asparagus. But chocolate milk happens to be one of my favorite drinks. I literally run for chocolate milk; it’s my sports drink of choice. So I just wanted to highlight a few points that I’ve been following as the debate unfolds, and leave it to my readers to share their opinions. (My kids take their lunch to school anyway and I send in water to drink.)–
Milk vs. Juice. According to the Los Angeles Times report about the ban, “A cup of fat-free chocolate milk served in L.A. Unified has 120 calories, with 20 grams (80 calories) of sugar. Strawberry fat-free milk has 130 calories, with 26 grams of sugar. White, plain nonfat milk has 90 calories, with 12 grams of sugar.” Compare that to 1 cup of orange juice, which has 112 calories and 20.83 grams of sugar.
Cafeteria insights. When my kids do eat at the cafeteria they only choose flavored milk–surprisingly strawberry. They say the regular milk tastes funny. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a little carton of milk, but maybe that’s another reason kids are reaching for flavors. Maybe it’s not just about the sweetness (although I’m sure that helps).
Sports drink? I’m not just a chocoholic on this point (okay, well maybe I am), but there’s research to back me up here. Compared to typical sports drink choices, chocolate milk helped athletes recover better after a tough workout. Now, this doesn’t necessarily figure into the school debate–after all, if all the kids were endurance athletes the obesity problem wouldn’t exist. But chocolate milk can be a nutritious part of a balanced diet. Moderation in all things, right?
One mom’s opinion. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, say-it-like-it-is mom Jen Singer talks about how her son wouldn’t get any nutrition in his lunch, without a little help from chocolate milk. Here’s a sample: “Let’s face it: Chocolate milk is like broccoli hidden in mashed potatoes. It’s the way parents sneak nutritional content into something palatable to kids who choose their breakfast cereal not by the quality of its content but by the cartoon characters on the box.”
Your turn–what do you think about the chocolate milk debate?
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about 1 year ago
Perhaps if more school districts could work with local dairies producing organic milk, to supply their cafeterias with those yummy milks, then “so-called” regular milk would taste wonderful and children wouldn’t reach for the flavored ones. Kind of a chicken and egg problem.We can dream, and hope, and lobby for policy change at the grassroots level and for school boards to work with farmers to incorporate more fresh and local foods into their repertoire.
about 1 year ago
I think that if everyone just ate/drank in moderation, there’d be no need to ban anything. I don’t drink milk much in general anymore, but I loved chocolate milk as a child too.
about 1 year ago
This sounds like a great idea to me.
about 1 year ago
I’m with you 100%. Moderation.
about 1 year ago
I think it is a tough topic for sure. I know that at my son’s school, he says the milk is never cold enough when they get it. It tends to sit out before the kids get it and maybe that’s why it tastes funny?
about 1 year ago
If I had children in the school system, I wouldn’t be allowing them to drink any of the anti-biotic, chemical laced milk anyway. They would be bringing organic milk from home, or water. I’m wondering if these same school districts have pulled the plug on all of the soda sponsorships in their districts too?
about 1 year ago
I’ve wondered that too. At home, my oldest even puts ice in her milk so I think temperature might have something to do with it.
about 1 year ago
Good question. I think soda + kids is a bad mix. For a variety of reasons my kids don’t drink soda. But I’ve volunteered to work at the concessions both before at sports games and I was surprised by the amount of junk kids can eat. When I asked the woman in charge if they’d ever thought of offering granola bars she said they did but no one bought them. Obviously a tough, tough issue all around. At this point, for my crew packing their lunches has been the way to go. Not that their lunches are always 100% healthy, but I try to offer a balanced approach.
about 1 year ago
Well, I think there is a difference between saying that chocolate milk makes a good workout recovery drink AND having kids (many of whom are not getting much exercise) guzzle it down as their drink of choice on a regular basis … along with other things like pop, etc.
And, this idea that plan milk tastes funny makes me worry about how the milk is processed and packaged. Ick!
about 1 year ago
Yes, as I pointed out, the school district isn’t making nutrition guidelines for endurance athletes, but after a long basketball workout, my oldest usually makes up a glass of chocolate milk.
I have been thinking about the comments on the funny flavor–whether it’s the processing or the temperature, or who knows? Even as a kid I remember the flavor was different than what I had at home.
about 1 year ago
I never was a fan of straight milk from the carton as a kid – I think my mom let me bring Juicy Juices or something in the lunchbox instead of drinking cafeteria milk. Maybe if kids had the option to drink fresher milk, as some of the other commenters have noted… who knows?
about 1 year ago
While I can certainly understand the obesity/chocolate connection, I think there are a couple of things to consider. Many kids would not otherwise drink milk w/out the flavoring AND if you restrict things kids naturally like they will look for them in other forms. It’s not all bad, after all…
about 1 year ago
I’m with Living Large. My question is whether the milk, served at school, has bovine growth hormone. Chocolate, strawberry or regular, not much difference in my opinion, but bovine growth hormone is not good for children and I would want my kids to drink organic milk. Have you ever pursued finding out why school milk tastes funny?
about 1 year ago
Hmmmm. sounds like I should talk my kids into a taste test. You know, in Europe we would drink milk at room temp. They thought it was odd to have it cold.
about 1 year ago
I haven’t. My kids don’t eat in the cafeteria often enough. But like I said, I recall even when I was a kid I didn’t like cafeteria milk…well, unless it was chocolate.
about 1 year ago
I’m trying to remember if chocolate milk was ever an option for us as kids at school. I don’t think it was. Still a touchy issue.
about 1 year ago
My mom used to buy those metal cans of Nestle’s chocolate powder that you’d stir into milk. I preferred eating it straight from the can with a spoon, though.
Same with those little fizzy tablets you were supposed to drop into water. We just ate ‘em plain. Lord knows what they were.
about 1 year ago
What a conversation! I read Jen Singer’s article and I have to respectfully disagree. There is so much evidence now that cow’s milk is not the end all be all that the dairy industry wants us to believe it is. Our kids don’t need either juice or milk! They can drink water! (Shocking, I know.) And they especially don’t need milk that is laden with sugar and chocolate. With all respect, it’s honestly crazy to think that is in any way good for their little systems…
about 1 year ago
I never liked plain milk (still don’t) and only drank chocolate milk as a child. Before they sold chocolate milk in the school cafeteria my mother would send me to school with a little plastic baggie filled with chocolate powder to stir in so I would drink my milk. I read Jen’s article in WSJ and had to agree with her on the choco milk.
about 1 year ago
Hated those hot bottles of milk sitting out in the Sydney sun that we had to drink as school kids. Was a big fan of chocolate milk as a teen.
But it’s a sweet treat. Not something you drink at every meal.