By Amy Cook Porter

Okay, I can never resist writing about the obvious, especially if the information comes from a legitimate source and who better to comment on than the the FDA’s weekly press synopsis.

Fresh on their website:

Effects of Switching from Whole to Low-Fat/Fat-Free Milk in Public Schools – New York City, 2004-2009www.cdc.gov/media/mmwrnews/2010/n100128.htm#2
Press Contact: Jessica L. Scaperotti
Press Secretary New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
(212) 788-5290
These results suggest that substitution of low-fat and fat-free milk for whole milk in schools can substantively reduce student consumption of calories and fat. Changes to the New York City Department of Education’s milk policy greatly reduced the amount of calories and fat available to public school students. Due to the system-wide switch from whole to low-fat/fat-free milk in 2005, a milk-drinking student is exposed to 33 fewer calories and 3.4 fewer grams of fat per school day, or almost 6,000 fewer calories and over 600 fewer grams of fat annually. Annual savings are larger for students who drink white milk (7,000 fewer calories and over 900 fewer grams of fat) and school purchases of milk per student actually increased 1.3 percent after the switch. Given the prevalence of childhood obesity, school milk policy changes are a viable way to reduce calorie/fat exposure without decreasing consumption of important vitamins and minerals.
Anyone who follows a holistic approach notices two problems with the press release.

1. Children over the age don’t need milk, especially at the middle of the day.
2. Why don’t we give our kids milk in the middle of the day, it’s the sugar in milk that elevates their blood sugar and is associated with the calories, not the fat.

Anyone following me over the years has heard my rant as to why water is the best drink for kids at lunch time.  Fruit drinks, flavored waters and teas, and milk all have sugars.  Sugar gives our kids short term energy boosts.  Two hours later, they are tired and dragging.  So what do they want to do?  Eat a high calorie snack to recreate the sugar buzz.  Only this time, it takes more sugar or calories to create the sugar high.

As to the fat issue, reducing fats is dangerous.  Our kids’ bodies are growing as they approach puberty.  Thei bodies needs fats to make hormones.  These need to be good quality fats: fats from range fed cows; organic yogurts and butter, and my favorites – nuts, avocados and coconuts.  Here’s an easy to remember rule for choosing oils: use only oils made from nuts and plants with seeds.  Don’t use vegetable oils.

And my message to the Department of Education, take a refresher biology class.  The solution to the obesity problem is not found in milk.  It’s found in a well rounded diet that includes more fresh fruits and vegetables, less grains, less dairy and more exercise.  It does not come from watering down dairy products.

Tags: Amy Cook-Porter, FDA

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 8:39 pm and is filed under FDA Warnings, Featured, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.