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(Image: © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.com)

We've all heard the slogans about milk: It does a body good, it's a natural thing to drink and it builds strong bones. And many people who heard these slogans while growing up were urged to drink a few glasses of milk a day because of its health benefits.

But do kids really need to guzzle the white stuff?

It turns out the case for milk is fairly weak. Although milk is a good source of protein, calcium and vitamin D, other food sources also provide these nutrients. What's more, there's no evidence that drinking milk reduces bone fractures, and drinking too much can lead to anemia and may contribute to obesity, experts now say.

"Do kids really need milk? No, of course they don't," said Amy Lanou, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Most people in the world do not drink milk after they are weaned from breast milk, and yet still get adequate nutrition, she added. [ 10 Ways to Promote Kids' Healthy Eating Habits]

Here is a look at the benefits and potential pitfalls of drinking milk.
The good
Most people have heard that the calcium in milk helps people grow strong bones. Milk is also fortified with vitamin D, a chemical typically synthesized by the skin when people spend time in sunlight, but which can be hard to get from the diet, as it is naturally found in only a few foods such as fatty fish, egg yolks and beef liver. Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets, a disease in which people develop bent and weakened bones, and has also been tied to other problems, such as muscle and nerve ailments.

And milk is a rich source of protein and calories, which is important for growing kids. Malnutrition is still a problem, even among children in the developed world. Picky eaters may struggle to get enough protein and calories in their diets, and milk is an easy, nutrient-rich way to deliver those calories, said Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
Overhyped?
Calcium can be found in many other food sources besides milk, including nuts, beans and greens, Lanou said.

And new research also raises questions about the notion that milk actually keeps bones strong. A 2013 study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that children who live in countries with lower rates of milk consumption have lower fracture rates than those in milk-drinking countries. In general, the notion that kids need very high levels of calcium to keep their bones strong may be oversold, Lanou said. Several studies suggest that the impacts made on bones when kids exercise or do other physical activity is the main factor in bone growth.

"The best way for kids to take good care of bones is to go outside and play," Lanou told Live Science.

And although vitamin D is certainly an essential nutrient, it doesn't occur naturally in milk, so other fortified foods such as breakfast cereal, orange juice and soymilk are equally good sources, Lanou said. The amount of protein in milk can also be found in lots of other sources, including beans and eggs.
The bad
Three-fourths of the world's population has lactose intolerance or cannot comfortably digest lactose, a sugar found in milk. Calcium can also inhibit the absorption of iron, which means drinking too much milk can lead to anemia, Maguire told Live Science.

The calorie-laden beverage could also promote obesity. A December 2014 study in the Archives of Disease in Childhood found that preschoolers who drink three or more servings of milk a day are likelier to be taller, but also more obese and overweight. Whole, or full-fat, milk has high levels of saturated fat, which has been tied to health problems. And some studies suggest low-fat and skim milk may not be an answer, because people feel less full after drinking it.

Another problem is that filling up on milk can mean not eating other healthy foods on the plate, and this can be especially true of kids who are picky eaters.

"If you actually feed a child three servings of cow's milk, how are they going to have room for other healthful foods like those vegetables, legumes and lean proteins?" Lanou said.

The health benefits of drinking flavored milks are even more dubious, Lanou said.

"An 8-ounce glass of low-fat chocolate milk has the same number of calories from sugar as an 8-ounce glass of Coke or Pepsi," Lanou said. Added sugar has been tied to a host of health problems, from obesity to diabetes to heart disease.

In the end, milk may not be a superfood, but it does provide valuable nutrients that can be hard to get into kids in other ways, Maguire said. Maguire has found that children seem to have good iron stores and vitamin D levels at around two glasses a day, which is the current recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

But if a kid simply hates the taste or has trouble digesting milk, parents don't have to push it. Instead, they can serve other foods to make sure their kids get the proper nutrition, Maguire said.

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(Image: © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.com) We've all heard the slogans about milk: It does a body good, it's a natural thing to drink and it builds strong bones. And many people who heard these slogans while growing up were urged to drink a few glasses of milk a day because of its health benefits.

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When students went back to school Monday in the District of Columbia, they were served only low-fat white milk. Berkeley, Calif., schools banned chocolate milk, and Florida school officials are considering it.

"There's been a lot of pressure on flavored milk recently," said Diane Pratt-Heavner of the School Nutrition Association.

Flavoring milk, some school officials and milk processors say, is the only way to get students to drink it. Milk provides a host of nutrients, including calcium, protein and vitamin D, which recent studies show is deficient in about three-quarters of teenagers and adults.

"It's better for them to have some milk with some flavoring and a little added sugar than to go without milk," said Ms. Pratt-Heavner, whose organization last month helped release a study that showed that elementary school children drank 35 percent less milk at school on average when flavored milk was removed.

The study, based on seven school districts, was paid for by the Milk Processor Education Program, a dairy industry group that supports the "Got Milk?" campaign, and conducted by Prime Consulting Group, whose clients include several large food companies.

Milk processors began a $500,000 campaign a year ago to defend chocolate milk from what they called "food activists" who believe it delivers too much added sugar. There is a lot at stake. The milk sold in schools accounts for 7 percent of all milk sales in the country.

The campaign has picked up in time for this school year. Posters featuring professional athletes promoting milk and chocolate milk for student athletes are ready for shipping to schools, and on Wednesday, the School Nutrition Association is offering its members a "Webinar" entitled "Keep flavored milk from dropping out of school."

Dairy processors and some nutritionists are concerned that important nutrients are going down the drain instead of into children, said Ann Marie Krautheim, senior vice president for nutrition affairs at the National Dairy Council. "There is a vocal minority that is looking at flavored milk from one sole angle, which is the sugar content," she said. "Parents need to consider the total nutrient package."

People trying to make school lunch more nutritious say it's outrageous to serve an eight-ounce drink that can contain more than five teaspoons of sugar - almost as much as a cup of soda or apple juice - and call it healthy.

"Saying we need to add sugar and flavoring to milk to get kids to drink it is like saying we need to feed kids apple pie if they don't like apples," said Ann Cooper, who runs the Boulder, Colo., school food program and a national Web site, chefann.com, aimed at reforming school lunch.

She's not opposed to chocolate milk, but she is opposed to teaching children it is part of a healthy daily diet.

The Boulder school district banned flavored milk last year. To help keep consumption up, Ms. Cooper installed a dispenser that keeps the milk colder and is more fun, she claims, than grabbing a carton. And it saves money.

Like other nutritionists and pediatricians, she argues that too much milk can make a child too full to eat foods like greens, hummus and beans that offer nutrients found in dairy products.

Some parents simply want the schools to be working with them, not against them.

Jenny Evans's children, who are 9 and 7, drink plenty of plain milk and eat a moderate amount of cookies, ice cream and the occasional piece of candy. But she objects to chocolate milk with added sugar as a staple at their school, the Garrison Union Free School in upstate New York.

"I don't think sugar is good for my kids, but I want to be the one giving it to them," she said.

For school food workers trying to make meals nutritious, milk of any kind helps solve problems.

Along with a grain, a vegetable, a fruit and a protein, milk must be offered at every meal if a school district wants to get crucial reimbursement from the federal government. Students need only take three of the five items offered, but chocolate milk is a popular choice.

To qualify for the federal money, the meals also have to deliver a set amount of calories and nutrients, with no more than 30 percent of those calories coming from fat. Low-fat milk helps meet those needs, said Janet Poppendieck, a sociology professor at Hunter College and author of the book, " Free for All: Fixing School Food in America. "

The government started providing subsidized milk to schools in the 1940s to help nourish needy children. The dairy industry helped finance this and other school nutrition efforts. Recently, it helped pay to promote school breakfast and summer food programs.

For many years, Ms. Poppendieck said, the close relationship between the dairy industry and public schools was welcome. But the recent campaign seems more commercial than social marketing, she said.

"As we have had our consciousness raised about milk both flavored and unflavored, the dairy council's efforts begin to look less angelic," she said.

But even parents who try to limit sugar in their children's diets think chocolate milk on the lunch tray is worth the nutritional trade-off.

Amy Alexander's children attend Montgomery County schools in Maryland. Her 11-year-old daughter has been boycotting milk altogether and her 7-year-old son won't entertain much plain milk unless it is on his cereal.

And he hates vegetables, but he loves chocolate milk. At least that gives him some nutrition, his mother figures. But she asks him to limit himself to a carton every other day at school.

"I suspect he takes it every day, but I'm not there," she said. Mostly, she doesn't want her children to have issues around food.

"I don't get the militancy around this," she said. "Milk is milk."

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When students went back to school Monday in the District of Columbia, they were served only low-fat white milk. Berkeley, Calif., schools banned chocolate milk, and Florida school officials are considering it. "There's been a lot of pressure on flavored milk recently," said Diane Pratt-Heavner of the School Nutrition Association.

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Schools to ban chocolate milk over added sugar?

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When it comes to being healthy, everyone knows milk does a body good. But did you know athletes have been using milk, especially chocolate milk to recover from the game and even build muscle! Taizo sits down with Food Scientist, Jennifer Shido, to find out more about chocolate milk and other flavored milks.

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