this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
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politics

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[–] LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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.

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And if there's less demand for milk, there's less demand for corn, which is the real big business.

[–] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Which destroyed my hometown by forcing the corn farmers to produce for syrup/ethanol instead of food, leading to inflation across the board, driving farms to fail and the community to die off. Fuck the corn syrup industry and all the greedy capitalist bullshit like it. 🖕🏽

[–] ares35@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

when i was in school, chocolate milk was only available one day a week (usually fridays). sensible meal planning by the schools to limit the extra sugar intake without 'needing' a law to do it. we didn't have vending machines either, i was out of k12 before that trend took off.

and yea, i can see a '50% reduction' in milk consumption--but only on those days. a lot of kids (including me) bought an extra carton or two (at 5 or 10 cents each back then) when chocolate milk was on the menu, because a little 8 ounce carton of chocolate milk is like a single swig.

[–] LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch 3 points 1 year 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 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

What's a good alternate drink to offer kids (other than water)? You don't NEED milk of course, but the goal is to provide nutrition and something they will actually eat/drink.

[–] htrayl@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why do you need to offer something besides water? Aside from which, there are plenty of alternatives. Herbal teas, seltzers, etc.

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] jscummy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Those elementary kids sure do love unsweetened herbal teas

[–] Peaty@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Milk itself is fine. The post I replied to made it sound like we need kids drinking milk and we don't.

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, they asked the same question I did. What's the answer?

[–] Peaty@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago
[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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 1 points 1 year 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 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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 1 points 1 year 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....

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Curious was the data say on the topic.

?

Ninja edit: oh - "[I'm] curious what the data says on the topic.". Right?