A silent crisis is gripping our nation’s schoolchildren. In a typical school year, more than 30 million students of all ages rely on school breakfast and lunch for their daily recommended intake of critical nutrients.
As a clinician working with mostly low-income, minority families for more than 30 years, I’ve taken thousands of dietary histories on children. I can tell you that for many, a school meal is by far the healthiest meal they will consume on any given day. For some kids, sadly, these are their only meals.
During the pandemic, school meal participation in cities across the country plummeted. According to preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), schools served at least 676 million fewer meals in 2021 versus 2020. Remote learning, COVID-related illnesses, food supply shortages and other challenges greatly contributed to the drop-off. Meal participation in New York City schools fell by 300,000 students in 2020 and attendance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
At the start of April, the city’s Department of Health under Mayor Adams released updated New York City food standards affecting public schools, child-care centers, prisons and other city-run institutions. While the new standards should be applauded for prioritizing healthy and whole foods, they too easily dismiss the benefit of offering low-fat and low-sugar flavored milk and yogurt to students. In fact, the USDA released new standards for school meals through the 2023-2024 school year that affirmed the benefits of low-fat flavored milks and yogurts alike for children and adolescents.
That is great news for child health and meal participation, especially since more than 60% of children and teens are not meeting their needs for calcium, vitamin D and potassium, three of the four “nutrients of concern.” The figures are even higher in communities of color.
Let me address the sugar issue straight away: I don’t want kids eating excess added sugar, nor should parents. The consequences of that are serious. We struggle with too much childhood obesity and diabetes, both of which have serious health consequences for millions of Americans. But I also know that small amounts of sugar can be useful in balanced diets, specifically to drive the consumption of nutrient-rich and under-consumed foods. Flavored milk and yogurt are examples of how to properly spend the few added sugar calories allowed in balanced eating styles.
No food is nutritious unless it’s eaten. Studies have repeatedly affirmed that when schools offer low-fat flavored milk options, school meal participation increases and children consume more of their meals and discard less food, getting more of the nutrients they need. For this reason alone, I see the inclusion of a flavored milk option in school meals (many kids still choose plain milk) as a win, not a concession. Most school milk is even local, from nearby dairy farms.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the School Nutrition Association, and the Institute of Medicine have all published statements supporting the nutritive contributions of fat-free flavored milk in school meals. They know that offering more milk options in school plays an important role in the diet and nutrition of children. Milk contains 13 essential nutrients that children need for growth, development, healthy immune function and overall wellness. Low-fat and fat-free flavored milk offered in schools today has 50% less added sugar and 41 fewer calories than it did a decade ago, with the same nutrients and benefits of plain milk that our kids need. The mayor’s plan calls for flavored milk to contain 130 or fewer calories per serving — a threshold already met by milk processors who sell to schools.
Nearly 90% of New York City voters with kids in public school support offering low-fat flavored milk in public school meals, according to a new Morning Consult tracking poll commissioned by the International Dairy Foods Association. Nationally, 85% of parents feel the same — a tremendous demonstration of support for maintaining nutritious milk options in school. These same parents also nearly unanimously agree that making sure meals are healthy and nutritious for children is a top priority for them.
Mayor Adams supported banning low-fat flavored milk in public schools when he was Brooklyn borough president and shows signs of planning to continue this crusade today, despite evidence and case studies showing the negative impact on students once it is removed. Rather than try to limit school milk options for kids, Adams and other New York City policymakers should follow the lead of parents, physicians and school meals professionals who widely support making milk and yogurt central to school meals.
Ayoob is a pediatric nutritionist, registered dietitian, and clinical practitioner who served as director of the nutrition clinic at the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx for more than 30 years.
