I think people ought to butt out and let parents decide what milk their children drink. Each year at my sons' school we (the parents!) decide if he gets regular milk, chocolate milk or oj with lunch, and we pay for it. There are not, and never have been soda machines at this school. My son drinks white (2% or whole!) milk with breakfast, chocolate with lunch and white with dinner. He loves milk, a variety of juices and water as well. Does that make me a bad parent? No, he actually needs to gain weight, and we are working on this with a variety of higher calorie, but healthful foods. Milk plays but a small role in this.

If these folks want to get to the root of a problem, go for it, but do not penalize those who ARE taking responsibility for their children and families. It's our decision.

I'm sorry, but there's no reason for a child to have to gain weight unless the parent just isn't feeding him. I was always 'underweight' and was very active. Was outside playing all day every day and didn't really care for food much -- we're Italian, and my mother cooked good healthy food. Since I've moved to the States 10 years ago I've not been able to find food that hasn't made me feel shitty unless I knew where it came from. I never needed to eat sweets or garbage to fatten me up. I'm perfectly healthy, perfect blood work, am looking great at the age of 24 when many American girls already look like fat women. Your kid does NOT need milk, and definitely doesn't need chocolate milk. There are many vegetables out there with calcium, and carbs and protein will fill in the rest. Use some common sense. Being thin should be normal -- unless your kid has tape worms or a nutrient absorption problem then you don't need to FATTEN him up. That's just an early start on coronary heart disease.

When I read this article and remember what was served in the cafeteria when I went to high school {58 to 62} I could go on for hours. But i think a better answer would be to say. If you were more concerned about what they are teaching in the Gym, you wouldn't have to worry if they served chocolate milk in the cafeteria.

As a registered dietitian with Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, I wanted to reinforce the science that supports keeping flavored milk in schools.

Peer-reviewed, published studies show that kids who drink flavored milk do not consume more calories or fat than non-milk drinkers. Nor do they do not have higher BMIs than non-milk drinkers. Also, a study, presented last month at the national conference of the American Dietetic Association, found that milk consumption dropped by two-thirds (67%) when flavored milk was removed from one school district in Connecticut. (As a parent, I find that scary!) Given that milk provides three of the five ‘nutrients of concern’ that American children are currently not getting enough of (calcium, potassium and magnesium), pulling flavored milk from schools doesn’t make sense to me as a registered dietitian nor as a mother. (You can read more about this research concerning flavored milk at: http://bit.ly/2iOYwY.)

Also, leading health organizations (e.g. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Dietetic Association (ADA) and American Heart Association (AHA)) recognize the role flavored milk can play in a child’s diet to help them meet their nutrient needs. Here’s a statement the American Dietetic Association made this week: http://bit.ly/pgb3F.
Kids are falling short of the recommended 3 daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk. They’re missing out on several key nutrients that milk provides. So if drinking chocolate milk helps them close these nutrients gaps, then keeping it in schools seems like a no-brainer.

Hello
I have checked that video which you have given about "Raise your hand for chocolate milk" campaign.According to me children like chocolate milk.If you want to drink them milk without chocolate they will not drink it sometimes.

I would love it if the City schools eliminated everything except 1% or 2% milk! It would be wonderful if the chocolate and strawberry milk was banished completely, or at least limited to, say, Fridays.

Ms. Brewington,

Please contact me for the studies regarding milk. Milk is absolutely the best drink anyone can drink. In fact, chocolate milk is the absolute best recovery drink after a workout. I have nothing to do with the milk industry either. This war against whole milk is crazy.

I also think it is better for parents to decide this for their children. I was allergic to milk as a child but I could not believe how many know-it-alls tried to pressure me to drink it, saying my growth would be stunted if I did not drink milk.

The only problem was that the milk came with a cookie and if I did not take the milk, I got no cookie.

Chocolate milk is delicious.

As a registered dietitian who is not paid to represent any industry group, I want to reinforce the principle that our government is not obligated to cater to children's flavor preferences or sugar cravings. Anyone who wants chocolate milk is free to bring it from home.

Moreover, the study which reported decreased consumption only tracked it for 3 months. What child is going to rejoice at the removal of a sweetened, chocolate-flavored product? Of course, total milk intake will decline, but then the sugar cravings will diminish with time, and the children will accept there are no more liquid candy bars at lunch and learn to drink white milk again, just like they did before.

And no one should believe that milk's contribution of nutrients is somehow unique or special. With daily magnesium requirements between 130 and 410 milligrams, milk's 27 mg per cup is negligible for children beyond third grade. And potassium is found everywhere. Adding vegetables prepared in kid-appealing ways will increase intakes of potassium, magnesium and a ton of other key nutrients far better than chocolate milk.

And if the presence of some nutrients is a free pass on other nutrition issues, what's wrong with a nutrient-fortified soda? How about calcium-fortified cookies? Twinkies with Vitamin D? I'm sure someone somewhere is working on it.

No doubt school nutrition needs to be improved. But any solution is not necessarily the right solution.

This campaign is simply a way to exploit children's attraction to sugar and chocolate as a means to increase sales for the dairy industry----and at taxpayer expense, no less.

I just had a White Russian. Your move, Milk Council!

Personally as a mom to 3 girls ages 6,8 and 9 (with another little girl on the way), I think chocolate milk should be banned from schools. My girls' schools have parental controlled lunch accounts and the parents decide what kind of milk the kids get. My 3 girls eat breakfast and lunch at school each day (expensive I know) but I know they are getting great nutrition as I do not allow the al la carte items/snack items, their accounts are set to hot meals only. They love white milk and get 1% white milk at school at breakfast and lunch each day. Usually at lunch, my 2 older girls will get 2 cartons of milk, which is fine by me, they are happy and healthy girls.

Farn, you really don't know what you are talking about. My son used to be underweight as well, and he didn't have a tapeworm or a nutrient absorption problem. He was just a really really picky eater. He loved vegetables but was just not taking in enough calories. The doctor would find ketones in his urine at his regular checkups because he wasnt eating enough. I would have been upset if he couldn't get his chocolate milk at lunch.

WOW. Who would have known a minimal amount of chocolate would cause such a stir. There is no difference in caloric value- there is about a 10g increase of sugar. They even have Fat Free Chocolate Milk. As someone who works in the healthcare industry and isn't a.) being paid to promote a product and b.) exaggerating scenerios just to look "smart"...the answer is moderation. As it is with anything. Orange and Apple Juice have more calories and relatively the same amount of sugar but has health benefits. You should view the chocolate milk the same way. If your child is choosing milk with a minor amount of chocolate in it over a glass of soda. Kudos. People go to the extremes with everything and the kids go nuts. Common sense parenting says don't give your child soda at every meal. Don't have them living off of sugary cereals, donuts and chips. Get them outside and active. Watch what they eat and how often they eat. Come on people...it's not rocket science and certainly not worth an uproar.