Should Schools Ban Chocolate Milk?

May 9, 2011

Little girl drinking chocolate milk

Jamie Oliver and other childhood nutrition advocates have recently turned their attention to sounding the alarm against chocolate milk in schools. And the Los Angeles Unified School District will take a look over the summer and determine whether to ban flavored milk.

Seventy percent of milk consumed in schools is flavored, but isn't flavored milk still better than soda?

Fat-free strawberry milk, for instance has the same amount of sugar as soda, but tons of other vitamins and nutrients.

"If you have flavored milk, that's candy," Jamie Oliver told the Associated Press.

Some districts are looking at flavored milk that uses more natural sweeteners than high-fructose corn syrup. If the Los Angeles schools ban flavored milk, it would join other districts including Washington and Berkeley, Calif.

What do you think? Is chocolate milk contributing to childhood obesity or just the latest fad? Let us know what you think.

Photo by: Stevendepolo

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