Chocolate milk helps kids shed the pounds!
This study about beverages and BMI (Public Health Nutrition Journal) in a sampling of Mexican American children showed that the more flavored milk kids drank, the lower the BMI. (Soda was associated with an increased risk of "obesity," interestingly, juice and other sugar-sweetened beverages showed no effect...)OK, I don't really believe that chocolate milk makes kids thinner, or fatter. I believe there is a complex play of factors, from genetics to poverty, to timing of meals and eating...I just wanted to take a cue from "science" reporting, where study findings are extrapolated, and correlated, and twisted and biased (I'm making that into a verb), to get the desired headline. You can bet if the study showed that chocolate milk was associated with higher BMI, the headlines would scream, "Chocolate milk to blame for childhood obesity epidemic." Also, banning sugar-sweetened beverages currently is the go-to answer for combating childhood obesity, and we continue to push low-fat milk and fat-free dairy, in spite of mounting evidence that dairy fat is not to blame for increasing BMIs, and some studies suggest that low-fat dairy products are associated with higher BMIs...Sigh. It's so confusing and anxiety-provoking, as we ricochet between dietary "culprits", from fat to sugar to refined flour... I continue to advocate for family meals, the Division of Responsibility, feeding in a tuned in and responsive manner that respects the child's internal regulation skills, and serving a variety of balanced and tasty choices (including chocolate milk, sometimes juice, and sometimes, even soda).What do you think?