School lunches are a lifeline for many hungry youngsters. Every day, about 30 million youngsters depend on school lunches. Moreover, according to a 2021 peer-reviewed study conducted by experts at Tufts University and the Icahn School of Medicine, food eaten in schools had the greatest nutritional quality when compared to food consumed in grocery shops, restaurants, and other significant food sources.
On other days, school dinners may be the only healthy meal that children get. Even for children who do not encounter food hardship, school meals may help cover nutritional gaps in their diet, particularly those given by dairy foods. In reality, children who engage in school meals eat more dairy milk, fruits and vegetables, and less sweets and snacks than non-participants.
Many children’s diets, particularly those from minority populations, do not reach the daily dairy intake suggested by the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans beginning at the age of four. This is crucial because nutrient-rich milk contains calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, three elements that many youngsters do not get enough of in their diets.
Notwithstanding the advantages of dairy, there are misconceptions concerning dairy foods and school meal quality. Here are four facts about how dairy in school meals helps youngsters develop and learn.
1. Dairy is often consumed in school meals.
Many school-age youngsters get their dairy through school lunches. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, school lunches are the richest source of dairy in children’s diets. Moreover, school meals may include up to two of the three required daily portions of dairy.
According to a 2017 research published in Preventive Medicine Reports, school meals supply 77% of low-income children’s daily dairy milk intake and 70% of total dairy consumption. Milk and dairy foods, such as cheese and yoghurt, are essential in ensuring that children from all socioeconomic situations benefit from dairy’s nutrients.
2. A range of milk choices are available, all of which include nutrients.
Milk alternatives in schools include fat-free, low-fat, flavoured, and lactose-free milk. Whichever kind of milk a student selects, it contains 13 important components that are beneficial to health.
A word on lactose-free milk: Contrary to common misconception, a student does not require paperwork to get lactose-free milk, such as a parent letter or a physician declaration. It is permitted in school food programmes to meet the health requirements of pupils. “I represent a school district with a high African American population, and lactose-free milk is served as an option for any of my students who want it, helping them benefit from milk’s hard-to-replace nutrient content,” says Donna Martin, EdS, RDN, LD, SNS, FAND, school nutrition director at Burke County Schools in Georgia.
3. Flavored milk has less additional sugar than you would assume.
Many parents and health experts are worried about the presence of added sugars in their children’s diets. The good news is that milk firms have collaborated with schools to minimise the amount of added sugars in school-available flavoured milk.
According to the National Dairy Council, between 2007 and 2021, the dairy industry in the United States decreased added sugars in flavoured milk in schools by almost half. The average calorie count of flavoured milk provided in schools is 126, which is just 29 higher than unflavored milk. In the end, according to NHANES statistics, flavoured milk accounts for just 4% of added sugars in the diets of children aged 2 to 18, with soft drinks accounting for the majority of added sugars.
4. Flavored milk boosts intake of milk and nutrients.
According to a research published in Nutrition Today, eliminating flavoured milk from schools may reduce overall milk intake and impair children’s ability to satisfy their nutritional requirements.
Drinking flavoured milk may really assist youngsters in meeting their nutritional requirements. According to a 2022 study published in the journal ACTA Scientific Nutritional Health, consumers of flavoured milk drank approximately 1-cup more total milk than non-consumers, which contributed to higher consumption of calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins A, D, and B-12, and riboflavin. In fact, as compared to non-flavored milk drinkers, they drank 51% more vitamin D, 27% more calcium, and 16% more potassium.
These are only a few statistics that demonstrate the significance of milk and dairy foods as part of nutrient-dense school meals. Children may not acquire all of the nutrients they need to develop and learn throughout their childhood and adolescence if this key food category is not included in the healthy eating patterns offered by school meals.
