Raise Your Hand For Chocolate Milk

Speaking of milk...

I was contacted by Got Milk and asked to help spread awareness for this new campaign called Raise Your Hand For Chocolate Milk. Here is the deal. There is debate now among schools to remove chocolate milk from school menus in efforts to boost nutritional quality of their meals. The result is less and less kids are drinking milk at all at school. During these developmental times in a child's life, milk is essential in their diet be it chocolate or plain.

Leading health and nutrition organizations – like the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association, and School Nutrition Association – recognize the valuable role that milk, including flavored milk, can play in meeting daily nutrient needs. All agree that the small amount of added sugar in flavored milk is an acceptable trade-off for the nutrients provided. In addition, studies show that children who drink flavored milk have better quality diets, do not have higher intakes of sugar, fat or calories, and are not heavier than non-milk drinkers. source: raiseyourhandformilk.com

Here is a pdf file outlining the top 5 reasons to Raise Your Hand for Milk.

I'm a mom of three and all three of them drink chocolate milk. I'm Ok with it! There are other drinks out there like sodas and other sugary drinks that they do not drink because they know they have the option for something better. Luckily (as far as I know anyway) our school here has not booted chocolate milk off the menu but should that happen it would be a cause for concern for me. If you have school aged children I hope you visit the website, sign the petition, and help out in spreading awareness for this campaign. Our kids need us!