The sweet, delicious, tasty, drink. Nothing could go wrong … right? But have you ever thought about how chocolate and other flavored milks have an effect on health? About all the sugar, calories and carbohydrates it has? Go find a nutrition label for chocolate milk, you’ll find that it has a lot of sugar … 26 grams to be exact, and don’t even get me started on the calories (there are 160, while white milk has only 110).

Many schools have been asking this question lately, “should chocolate milk be banned?” The answer is, yes, it should, and there are three crystal-clear and obvious reasons for this; lots of other schools, and even states are banning flavored milk all together. This awful treat costs a lot too, the DOE spent 12.8 million dollars on chocolate milk alone (​The Dark Side of Chocolate Milk,​ par. 19)​. It is also very unhealthy. Flavored milk is full of carbohydrates, added sugar and calories and way too often leads to cancer and diabetes.

Bans

One important and clear reason that chocolate milk should be banned is that other schools are making chocolate milk bans as well. Some schools have the right idea and are replacing high fructose corn syrup chocolate milk, with flavored milks sweetened with beet sugar. However, others are taking it a step further by banning it completely. This is the best path to take. On the other hand, some studies disagree.

They say that milk consumption drops by 35%, and it’s true … at first. But The University of Connecticut Rudd Center says this, “the acceptance of plain milk increases significantly two years after flavored milk is removed. (The Dark Side of Chocolate Milk, par. 21)”.

This fact is important because if schools decide to ban chocolate milk, then the consumption, in most cases will lower. However, if they stick to their decision to keep chocolate milk out of schools, white milk consumption in a few years will rise. Plus, even if white milk consumption does not rise, kids can still get the nutrients they need from other foods. Many other states and cities have full bans on chocolate milk.

These states and cities include; Washington, ​D.C., Rochester, NY, Minnesota ,and San Francisco, CA (​District Administration, ​par 6). That’s a lot of districts! Most of these states and cities are banning chocolate milk because of the high sugar content and the obesity rise in their communities. These are just some of the many reasons we should ban chocolate milk. I believe we should take deep thought to banning flavored milk in New England schools, particularly in Maine.

Cost

Chocolate milk is very expensive. It has sky high costs. The New York Department of Education spent 12.8 million on just chocolate milk, nothing else ​(​The Dark Side of Chocolate Milk,​ par. 19)​”.​ In fact, most of the time it costs more than white milk. This means that if schools ban chocolate then they could save money and spend it on other things like healthier foods and teacher salaries. In addition to the sky-high costs, chocolate milk is also very unhealthy.

Dairy industries say that chocolate milk is chocolaty and delicious, but the real question is if it’s healthy? The answer is no. An Australian news reporter, Chole Baker interviewed school-going children on chocolate milk and one child said, “‘The only time I get chocolate milk is when I go to school’ (​Chocolate Milk: More Harmful Than Healthful​, par.1)”. The same article also says some kids drink chocolate milk “at school only”.

Take this story for example, Rebecca Hodges sent her son to pre-k. She was excited for the year to come – full of learning and adventure. Her son, just 5 years old, was gaining a large amount of weight. Within just 6 months, he had gained eleven pounds (​The Dark Side of Chocolate Milk​, par. 1 and 2).

As it turned out all this weight gain was from the ​chocolate milk he was drinking at school.​ This isn’t fair to parents who want their kids to have a healthy diet, and parents should be able to trust their school to give their children healthy nutritious food, right? So, is it worth all that money just for this to happen? I don’t think so. You can’t necessarily blame the schools completely for a child’s unhealthy diet, but the parents are not able to supervise what kids are eating at school.

In the long term it can cost parents thousands of dollars for healthcare if their children are not eating a balanced diet. According to The Dark Side of Chocolate Milk,​ we won’t fix these health problems by continually offering kids chocolate and flavored milks at school. The article states that, “Health problems related to obesity in this country [U.S.A] topped 1.72 trillion in 2018”. Another article, ​Science Daily​, says that “​Childhood obesity comes with an estimated price tag of ​$19,000 per child​ [over an average lifetime] when comparing lifetime medical costs to those of a normal weight child (pg.1, par.1)”.

This is a lot of money on parents, and it’s mostly because of the sugary drinks they are getting at school. Plus, that is the amount of money ​per child​. This problem can’t go on, it costs too much for everyone.

Health Problems

It’s not a lie. It’s not make-believe. Chocolate milk, in truth, is really unhealthy. It’s chock-full of added sugar and calories. In fact it has 14 total grams of added sugar, while on the other hand, white milk has 0. The American Heart Association states this, “Kids that are 2-18 [years old] should have less than 25 grams or 6 teaspoons of added sugar daily for a healthy heart”. That means that a 1 cup serving of chocolate milk has more than half of the daily added sugar limit.

Plus, according to the article ​Chocolate Milk: More Harmful than Healthful​ kids are getting “10 or even 15 cartons of chocolate milk in a week at school (pg.1, par.1)”. That shows that they are getting 2-3 cartons a day! That may not seem like a lot to you but if they drink that much flavored milk they are going way above the daily limit for added sugar. Chocolate milk and other flavored milk should be banned for this. But other people disagree.

They believe that if chocolate milk is banned then kids will lose the nine essential nutrients that they need that are found in chocolate milk. But there’s no need to fret. White milk has the same vitamins and nutrients and in some cases, has more of them. For example, plain milk has 5% more calcium than chocolate milk. Flavored milk causes many health problems like childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, this isn’t good for children or their parents.

This fact is probably going to blow your socks off. Jamie Oliver, a food activist, who hosts a tv show called ‘Food Revolution’. In one episode, Oliver “filled a school bus with ​57 tons of sand​, representing the amount of sugar American kids consume in ​just one week from drinking chocolate milk (​Chocolate Milk: More Harmful than Healthful, ​par.4)”.This does not even include the added sugar they are getting at home!

And get this, in another one of his episodes, Jamie Oliver stated, “When kids drink chocolate and strawberry milk every day they’re getting nearly ​2 gallons of ​extra sugar each year”. This is very unhealthy especially for the kids who are getting two or three cartons a day already at school. Some people that are for chocolate milk in schools believe that it’s “creamy and delicious” like diary industries are claiming.

But is this true for all? I have one word for you … .NO. There are quite a few kids who would choose white milk over chocolate. Plus, some kids are lactose intolerant, and here’s the main reason… it’s just plain, down right unhealthy. If we truly want to lower the amount of child obesity and other health problems we need to act.

We need to introduce plain milk to schools. We can do it, at Paris Elementary School there are 5 year-olds who take plain milk, so it’s definitely possible we can teach all our schools to make healthier choices. If we as a community start making changes now, it may not be too late.

In conclusion, flavored milk, chocolate milk or whatever you want to call it should be banned from schools.​ But Mrs. Dobbins, a nutritionist for the Midwest Dairy Council disagrees, she states that “Chocolate milk and other flavored milks have the same nine essential nutrients as white milk …[and] because they love the taste, some kids drink more milk when it’s flavored (​Nutrition in Disguise​, par 2)”.

Although this may be true, it’s important not to lose sight of the effects chocolate milk has. According to ​Chocolate Milk: More Harmful than Healthful,​ an 8 ounce carton of chocolate milk has “approximately 20% more sugar than [an 7.5 can of] soda (pg.1, par.2)”. That’s a .5 difference between the amount of liquid and yet chocolate milk still has more sugar! This clearly shows that banning chocolate milk is ​the best decision to make if we are going to put a stop to child obesity, diabetes and cancers caused by flavored milks and poor nutrition.

It’s unhealthy in too many ways. It costs a lot too. Chocolate milk has many flaws, schools obviously don’t trust it any more. If we want these many problems to stop, we have to take a stand and ban chocolate milk. My only wish is that you consider banning all flavored milk from Maine schools, and maybe if you’re really courageous, help ban chocolate milk in other places too.

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