Con

“[P]lacing flavored milk back in schools would be in direct opposition to any actions taken to help students to achieve greater academic success. And, when we consider a normal school day, we aren’t just talking about one serving. A child could have up to four servings… This amounts to a total of 88 grams of added sugar per day – 3.5 times that amount the World Health Organization recommends…

[M]any would argue that while flavored milk has some drawbacks, drinking milk has many health benefits, and children are more likely to drink milk if it is flavored. In fact, some flavored milk providers actually market their products to schools by claiming that it can be beneficial for building muscle after a rigorous workout, and by making a comparison between the amount of sugar in flavored milk versus soda. These arguments are shortsighted and don’t make much sense, however.

First, sugar has been shown to reduce the body’s ability to absorb calcium. Thus any health advantages of milk are actually negated once sugar is added. And, second, if the measure for health is just having less sugar that soda, then we can say just about anything is healthy. We must do better.”

June 8, 2016