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Nutrition & Product Information
Flavored Milk in Perspective
Preference for and Attitudes Related to Flavored Milk Intake
Flavored milks such as chocolate milk are well accepted, especially by children and adolescents, but also by parents, school food service directors, and pediatricians (2,5,19,20, 78-80). When 600 children ages 8 through 13 were asked about their attitudes toward milk and their milk-drinking habits, 78% agreed that they like the taste of chocolate milk (5). Thirty-nine percent said that they would drink more milk if it were chocolate and 45% agreed that they would drink more milk at school if more flavors were offered (5). Another survey found that approximately one-third of children aged 9 to 11 would drink more milk if it were chocolate (2).
Children are more likely to drink chocolate milk at school than at home (5). In a small study of about 60 sixth grade students in an elementary school in New York City, students rated 1% chocolate flavored milk more acceptable than either unflavored 1% or unflavored whole milk (20). The children consumed a greater quantity of the 1% chocolate flavored milk than either of the unflavored milks. Likewise, milk's flavor was found to be an important factor influencing children's milk drinking in a study of elementary school students aged 6 to 11 years in northern Texas (78). The majority of children chose chocolate milk at school. When asked about what advice they would give a new student at school, the children's typical response included "get chocolate milk" (78). This study found that milk flavor was the most important environmental factor influencing milk drinking (78).
Parents are also supportive of offering flavored milk to children in schools (79). When 200 parents of children ages 8 to 13 were interviewed, the majority of parents (85%) agreed that chocolate milk should be offered to students either daily (65%) or at least a few times a week (20%) (79). Eighty-one percent of parents considered chocolate milk to be a healthy treat (79).
School food service directors support offering students flavored milk (19). When 206 school food service directors in elementary and secondary schools in the southwest region of the U.S. were interviewed about the types of beverages offered in school food service programs, approximately 78% supported serving chocolate flavored milk (19). Main reasons given by the directors for serving chocolate milk were students' preference for chocolate milk (81.8%), their increased participation in school meal programs (41.7%), and higher calcium intakes (33.3%) (19).
Pediatricians agree that chocolate milk is a nutritious beverage for children (80). According to a recent telephone survey of 300 pediatricians, the majority (87%) agreed that chocolate milk is a nutritious beverage option for children (80). Nearly 60% of those surveyed agreed that low fat and fat free chocolate milk is "the best beverage source of calcium," placing it above both calcium fortified orange juice and soymilk (80). This survey also revealed that 100% of pediatricians agreed that calcium is important for children's growth and development (80). Ninety-three percent of pediatricians surveyed said that children are not consuming enough calcium in their diets, with nearly 35% of all pediatricians being "very concerned" about children's low dietary calcium intake (80).
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