Bill to ban Connecticut Childcares from serving whole milk.
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QuietBloom
Posts: 5,413 Member
A new bill making its way through the Connecticut legislature would ban daycare centers and home childcare providers from serving whole milk or 2% milk to the kids in their care. Setting aside for a moment the sheer lunacy of the proposed law's premise, I'd like to point out that it's also based on an incredibly faulty understanding of nutrition.
I rarely drink dairy, but when I do I reach for whole or 2% milk before skim or nonfat varieties. Whole milk is the least processed. Skim milk—you know, the "healthy" option everyone was supposed to switch to at some point in the 1990s—is made by separating and removing the fat from whole milk, which leaves the remaining product a shade of bluish-gray. To make it look palatable, and replace lost protein, milk powder is added back in, via a high-temp, high-pressure process that causes the cholesterol in skim milk to oxidize. Oxidized cholesterol is carcinogenic and has been shown in to promote arterial plaque formation. Oh, and because skimming the fat strips milk of crucial vitamins A and D, synthetic (i.e., less bioavailable) versions of these vitamins are added back into the milk—a sort of pointless procedure anyway, considering our bodies can't absorb these fat-soluble vitamins properly without fat.
Commercial whole milk, while still somewhat processed, is a lot closer to cow's milk in its natural state. No oxidized cholesterol, no need to dye it back to a natural-looking color or add synthetic vitamins. Yes, it has nearly double the calories of nonfat milk—150 per cup, compared to about 80 calories in a cup of skim. But calories aren't everything. Whole milk is richer in protein and fats, which promote satiety and fullness, and feeling full and satisfied longer makes people (including kids) less likely to overeat later.
That's not the only thing fats in milk are good for. They also help slow the release of sugars into the blood stream. Milk is actually more full of sugar than many people realize (in the form of lactose), so this is a helpful feature—almost as if the nutrients in milk naturally complement one another! And though the fat in milk is mostly the saturated kind, it's not necessarily the same type of fat you're getting from French fries and bacon. There are different types of saturated fats, which function different metabolically.
But enough biochemistry and abstraction—doesn't it just make sense that giving kids milk with less fat and less calories would help them avoid unhealthy weight gain? Well, good thing we have research looking at exactly this question in actual kids. A longitudinal Harvard study, published in 2005, found drinking skim or 1% milk was associated with weight gain in 9- to 14-year-olds, while drinking whole or 2% milk was not. A 2013 study found the same associations for pre-schoolers.
So in addition to infringing on personal liberty, the Connecticut bill—"An Act Concerning Nutrition Standards for Child Care Settings"—is based more on some legislator's harebrained idea of how nutrition and diet work than any actual nutrition or dietary science.
http://reason.com/blog/2014/04/24/conn-bill-would-ban-whole-milk-for-kids
I rarely drink dairy, but when I do I reach for whole or 2% milk before skim or nonfat varieties. Whole milk is the least processed. Skim milk—you know, the "healthy" option everyone was supposed to switch to at some point in the 1990s—is made by separating and removing the fat from whole milk, which leaves the remaining product a shade of bluish-gray. To make it look palatable, and replace lost protein, milk powder is added back in, via a high-temp, high-pressure process that causes the cholesterol in skim milk to oxidize. Oxidized cholesterol is carcinogenic and has been shown in to promote arterial plaque formation. Oh, and because skimming the fat strips milk of crucial vitamins A and D, synthetic (i.e., less bioavailable) versions of these vitamins are added back into the milk—a sort of pointless procedure anyway, considering our bodies can't absorb these fat-soluble vitamins properly without fat.
Commercial whole milk, while still somewhat processed, is a lot closer to cow's milk in its natural state. No oxidized cholesterol, no need to dye it back to a natural-looking color or add synthetic vitamins. Yes, it has nearly double the calories of nonfat milk—150 per cup, compared to about 80 calories in a cup of skim. But calories aren't everything. Whole milk is richer in protein and fats, which promote satiety and fullness, and feeling full and satisfied longer makes people (including kids) less likely to overeat later.
That's not the only thing fats in milk are good for. They also help slow the release of sugars into the blood stream. Milk is actually more full of sugar than many people realize (in the form of lactose), so this is a helpful feature—almost as if the nutrients in milk naturally complement one another! And though the fat in milk is mostly the saturated kind, it's not necessarily the same type of fat you're getting from French fries and bacon. There are different types of saturated fats, which function different metabolically.
But enough biochemistry and abstraction—doesn't it just make sense that giving kids milk with less fat and less calories would help them avoid unhealthy weight gain? Well, good thing we have research looking at exactly this question in actual kids. A longitudinal Harvard study, published in 2005, found drinking skim or 1% milk was associated with weight gain in 9- to 14-year-olds, while drinking whole or 2% milk was not. A 2013 study found the same associations for pre-schoolers.
So in addition to infringing on personal liberty, the Connecticut bill—"An Act Concerning Nutrition Standards for Child Care Settings"—is based more on some legislator's harebrained idea of how nutrition and diet work than any actual nutrition or dietary science.
http://reason.com/blog/2014/04/24/conn-bill-would-ban-whole-milk-for-kids
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Replies
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Besides the fact that skim milk is absolutely disgusting?
I can't imagine this making it- but god help us if it does.
I do not understand why people are so fat-phobic. It makes me sad for these people pushing this crap through. And even more sad for their kids!0 -
I must say that I'm not shocked that Connecticut is thinking of doing this. They'll probably throw in a fine or a tax some where in the bill if it's found that the day cares are serving the "fatter" milk too.0
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Wait.... as an early childhood educator, I'm confused. Why would this even be a thing?0
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Excellent post.
Edited to include:
I guess they did not consider the importance of dietary fat in myelin formation and neuronal conductance...This process, and hence the requirement for adequate dietary fat, continues well into adolescence...0 -
I must say that I'm not shocked that Connecticut is thinking of doing this. They'll probably throw in a fine or a tax some where in the bill if it's found that the day cares are serving the "fatter" milk too.
As funny as that may sound to some, it's probably true.
As I live in CT, I'll be writing my legislators.0 -
yea this is ridiculous, there are plenty of other things that they could cut out that are much much worse than whole milk0
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I must say that I'm not shocked that Connecticut is thinking of doing this. They'll probably throw in a fine or a tax some where in the bill if it's found that the day cares are serving the "fatter" milk too.
As funny as that may sound to some, it's probably true.
As I live in CT, I'll be writing my legislators.
I do too hence the reason I said it. I'm sure Malloy will push the bill through.
My question is what happens if a parent sends their kid to day care with a container of whole or 2% milk because that's what they want them to drink? Will it get taken away from them?0 -
Appalling! Young children need fat in their diet. Especially before the age of 2.0
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They just don't understand and that is so very frustrating!0
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If I wanted myself or my child to drink water, we would. 2% at the very lowest, but whole is where its at for us.0
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an overreaction to the fat content in milk. so, are they gonna give them soda instead?0
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I must say that I'm not shocked that Connecticut is thinking of doing this. They'll probably throw in a fine or a tax some where in the bill if it's found that the day cares are serving the "fatter" milk too.
As funny as that may sound to some, it's probably true.
As I live in CT, I'll be writing my legislators.
I do too hence the reason I said it. I'm sure Malloy will push the bill through.
My question is what happens if a parent sends their kid to day care with a container of whole or 2% milk because that's what they want them to drink? Will it get taken away from them?
I was wondering the same thing - what if I send my boys to daycare with whole milk?
It's so stupid.0 -
If it does get passed (yikes!) then their will probably be some sort of waiver you can sign that says you want your kid to get whole milk. I mean if kids can get waived for not getting vaccinations because of religious reasons, I would think that it would be possible get permission for your kid to drink whole milk.
It seems a bit backwards. Parents should determine what their kids consume not the daycare or schools. Schools should provide healthy lunch options, don't get me wrong, but the parents should look at the school lunches and decide if they want to give their kids money for it. Likewise, parents should be able to tell daycares that they do/don't want their kids to drink x% milk.
When I was in 1st grade the teacher took a candy bar away from a fat kid and reminded him that he wasn't supposed to be eating that and that his parents had him on a diet. The parents asked her to keep an eye on him and she obliged. You couldn't do that today but ya know I thought it was interesting. (Also I really didn't like him, he was mean to me and wouldn't share the markers with me because my mom was a single mom, great kid.) As a side note, its sad I remember this >.<0 -
Fat free milk is not a particular healthy option and to which this panel obviously have no clue about.......this is worrying.0
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Politicians/ bureaucrats making a fuss over stuff that doesn't matter to divert attention away from real issues. It makes them feel/look useful while actually accomplishing nothing.0
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yea this is ridiculous, there are plenty of other things that they could cut out that are much much worse than whole milk
Or even 2%! Idiocracy at it's finest.0 -
This seems rather odd, since saturated fat is more important for young children than for any other group. I'm surprised more pediatricians are not weighing in. I wonder what prompted the bill.
But one point in the OP doesn't seem correct, at least not in my area. It's very hard to find whole milk that has not been fortified with vitamin D. In fact, most people around here refer to whole milk as "vitamin D" milk. Because of this, many even think that ONLY whole milk is fortified.0 -
I don't understand this bill, seeing how very young children really need that fat during their developing years.0
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Excellent post.
Edited to include:
I guess they did not consider the importance of dietary fat in myelin formation and neuronal conductance...This process, and hence the requirement for adequate dietary fat, continues well into adolescence...
It has always been my understanding that children, particularly young children, are supposed to drink whole milk for this very reason. One of my coworkers at the Starbucks I used to work at would get quietly upset every time a parent ordered his/her child skim milk, particularly if the child was under 5.0 -
I think this must be a ploy to get more fat for butter-making since butter consumption is on the rise. Only partly kidding....
My kids don't drink (other mammals) milk and never have. It caused quite a stir at school when they refused to drink it and I had to pretend they were allergic so that they would stop serving it to them and making them "have one sip". Milk consumption in school is highly political, non-scientific and regulated already. Lots of lobby dollars going into these laws.0
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