• @LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch
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    149 months ago

    Curious was the data say on the topic. I can see flavored milk being more appealing than unflavored, and encouraging kids to drink it.

    Obviously added sugar isn’t great, but what is the net effect on health, in regards to the community as a whole?

    What are the alternative drink choices? Fruit juice? Water? Just white milk?

    • Eochaid
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      399 months ago

      The USDA wanted to ban flavored milks from elementary schools and limit the amount of said milks within high schools as part of a wave of new nutrition standards.

      I think this is the only data the congressman and his milk industry lobbyists cared about:

      According to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, removing flavored milk from schools resulted in a 62% to 63% reduction in milk consumption by kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, as well as a 50% reduction in sixth to eighth grades.

      Basically, ban flavored milks and children will drink less milk, which means less money for big milk, which is why this is a thing.

      • @LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch
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        39 months ago

        Well, of course his motivation is Big Milk, that was never in dispute.

        Milk does have excellent nutritional value. A reduction in milk consumption is also a reduction in some vitamin and protein intake. It could be that increasing milk consumption is good for his constituents, and milk consumption is good for the students health. Both things can be true at the same time.

        I’d like to see what the data is on flavored milk specifically. Kids need to drink SOMETHING, and I’m curious if the alternative is better in the long run than chocolate milk.

    • @Peaty@sh.itjust.works
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      189 months ago

      Kids don’t need milk. After infancy you do not require dairy and during it your best option is human milk.

      Any food without added sugar will be healthier than those with.

      • @CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        19 months ago

        If our schools were not captured by business interests, they ought to be doing things to actively discourage kids from drinking milk. Unfortunately, we still have so many adults that think milk is a health drink. But that’s the idea of the captives held in schools.

        • @Peaty@sh.itjust.works
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          19 months ago

          No, they would not discourage that as some kids need the calcium from milk because they do not eat green veggies enough.

          Milk can be a healthy drink but it should not be your primary drink.

          • @CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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            19 months ago

            Milk and dairy in general are far too unhealthy for me to consider them something we should be pushing kids to drink. There are much better sources for things like calcium.

            • @Peaty@sh.itjust.works
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              19 months ago

              Source on better sources for calcium than dairy? Remember bioavailability of the calcium is going to be a more important factor than the amount of calcium present.

        • @jscummy@sh.itjust.works
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          19 months ago

          Why would milk be actively discouraged? Maybe for ethical reasons, but health wise what do you think is wrong with drinking milk?

          • @CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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            19 months ago

            A lot. Take a close look for yourself. No way we should be pushing that on kids - so they get a lifetime of chronic diseases that are brought about/made worse by things like milk. Unfortunately, there is a lot of active disinfo being carried out against adults and children in this country when it comes to nutrition. Drink milk for “health” and make sure to get as much “protein” (via unhealthy animal flesh) as possible, it will be good for you…