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Big Step for Better Nutrition
Nestlé offers first lowfat flavored milk for school
vending.
Today’s children may
be the first generation to experience a shorter lifespan than their
parents, according to some analysts, due to rising childhood obesity rates
and health problems related to poor diet and sedentary lifestyles.
Major culprits include the sharp increase in
consumption of foods with minimal nutritional value at the expense of more
nutritious foods like lowfat milk and a 300 percent increase in soda
consumption over the past 20 years while milk consumption among adolescents
has dropped by more than 40 percent.
As concerned parents and school boards across the
country demand more healthful options for kids in school as one way to
address the obesity issue, Nestlé is offering by way of its
Nesquik® brand what I purports to be the first and only 100 percent
lowfat (1 percent) milk to schools nationwide through its new school
vending-machine solution.
“Schools have an important role in creating a
healthy school environment that will influence children’s lifelong
dietary habits,” says Dayle Hayes, M.S., R.D., president of Nutrition
for the Future Inc. “Kids who drink milk have a better diet with
higher calcium intakes than those who regularly drink sodas and sweetened
fruit drinks. New, healthful options like Nesquik lowfat milk are win-win
solutions for nutritious school
vending.”
Research indicates that, when it comes to good
nutrition, sugary carbonated beverages and fruit drinks can’t compete
with 100 percent milk. In fact, one recent study showed that children who
drank flavored milk not only took in more nutrients but maintained diets no
higher in total fat and sugar than those of children who did not drink
flavored milks.
Organizations such as the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) and Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) are urging schools to
provide lowfat regular and flavored milk to students. State and federal
regulations are also being introduced nationwide to restrict student access
to foods of minimal nutritional value in favor of healthier options. df
Information provided by Nestlé USA. For full
report and research sources, contact Jennifer Robbins at (312) 297-7573. To
learn more about Nesquik milk solutions for schools, call (866) QUIK-VEND.
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