Chocolate milk isn’t just a nostalgic favorite – it’s a powerhouse of nutrition that kids and parents can feel good about. Whether you’re packing school lunches or fueling up after sports practice, flavored milk is a smart choice that delivers essential nutrients while keeping taste buds happy.
Here’s why chocolate milk deserves a spot in your child’s routine – at home and at school:
- Packed With Nutrients Kids Need
Kids who drink milk – whether plain or flavored – get more of the good stuff their growing bodies need, like calcium, vitamin D and potassium. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend three servings of dairy every day for children, and low-fat or fat-free (and even lactose-free!) milk makes it easy to check those boxes.- Flavored milk drinkers tend to consume more nutrients overall but maintain a similar body weight to kids who don’t drink milk.
- Choosing chocolate milk over soda or juice means fewer empty calories and more nutrition.
- Flavored Milk Helps Kids Meet Dairy Goals
Let’s face it – kids are more likely to drink milk when it’s flavored. Giving them a choice helps ensure they get their daily servings.- In schools, more than two-thirds of the milk chosen is flavored, with low-fat chocolate milk being the top pick.
- Removing flavored milk from schools has led to a drop in milk consumption, meaning fewer kids get the nutrients they need to stay strong and focused.
- What About the Sugar?
Worried about sugar? Good news – flavored milk isn’t the problem. It contributes just 3% of added sugars in kids’ diets, much lower than many other sweetened beverages. In fact, there are about 12 grams of natural sugar (lactose) in each 8-ounce glass of cow’s milk, which is pretty close to the same amount of natural sugar in an orange!- An 8-ounce serving of chocolate milk naturally contains 12 grams of natural sugar (lactose) plus only 8-12 grams of added sugar in school-served options.
- Most of the flavored milk in schools contains less than 7 grams of added sugar, which is below the recommended daily maximum of 25 grams of added sugar in children’s diets.
Chocolate Milk: A Win-Win Choice
Chocolate milk isn’t just delicious – it’s a simple way to help kids get the nutrients they need without the battles over food. So, go ahead and pour a glass. Your kids (and their growing bones) will thank you!