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Dietitians Urge Parents to Serve “Milk With Meals”
As families gather around the dinner table, what was once a staple of the meal—milk—might be hard to find. Over the past decade, milk at dinner has steadily declined, and today nearly 60 percent of children’s dinners do not include milk, according to findings from a study done by the research marketing group, The NPD Group1. Conversely, nearly one-third of all kids’ meals are served with a soft drink or fruit drink—beverages that are often loaded with sugar and missing important nutrients.
The percentage of overweight American children and teens has tripled in the last two decades and a recent report called What America Drinks2 suggests that beverage choices may impact weight and the overall quality of the diet. With children consuming two to three times the amount of sweetened beverages as they do milk, mealtime presents the perfect opportunity for parents to control what their kids are drinking.
Choosing milk for family meals can have a real nutrition impact. Each time you swap your child’s soft drink for a glass of milk, you boost their intake of nine essential nutrients and they eliminate six teaspoons of sugar from their diet.
Studies on mothers and daughters show that moms’ own food choices may be more influential than any other attempt to control their daughters’ food intake. A mother’s decision to drink milk more frequently and to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is likely to influence her daughter’s choices.
Moms need to take advantage of all the milk options available today. Today’s dairy case is stocked with low-fat, flavored and single-serve milks—even fast food restaurants offer single-serve milk chugs with kid’s meals—and they all offer the same great package of nutrients.
1 NPD Group, National Eating Trends 2007 2 What America Drinks is a comprehensive analysis of U.S. beverage consumption that was conducted by ENVIRON International Corporation. The report analyzed data from more than 10,000 Americans ages 4 and older who participated in the government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 and provided reasonable dietary reports of food/beverage intakes. Relationships between selected patterns of beverage use, nutrient intakes, and body mass index (BMI) were examined.
White Bean Chowder with Milk Recipe created by 3-A-Day™ of Dairy
In a large saucepan, stir together oil, onion and garlic over medium heat until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add 1 can of beans and mash into onion mixture with a potato masher or a slotted spoon (mixture will be chunky). Makes 6 servings Nutritional Facts Calories: 270, Total Fat: 7 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Cholesterol: 15 mg, Sodium: 370 mg, Calcium: 30% Daily Value, Protein: 17 g, Carbohydrates: 38 g, Dietary Fiber: 8 g
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