Kids: Get Milk!

But according to a new study by The NPD Group, nearly 60 percent of children's dinners do not include milk. Instead, nearly one-third of all kids' meals are served with a soft drink or fruit drink --beverages that are often loaded with sugar and missing important nutrients. Accordingly, the percentage of overweight American children and teens has tripled in the last two decades, and a recent report called What America Drinks suggests that beverage choice may impact weight and the overall quality of the diet.

In response to these findings, a new nationwide effort called the Think About Your Drink campaign urges parents to think about what's filling their children's glasses and to make milk the "official drink of the family".

It's important for parents to realize that beverage choice may play a part in the fight against raising overweight, yet undernourished kids. Family dinner is a great place to start. By swapping your child's soft drink for milk, you boost vital nutrients many kids are missing. At a typical meal, served with a regular soft drink that includes spaghetti with a side of broccoli, fruit and bread, you get only 120mg of the recommended 1,000mg of calcium a day. By swapping fat free milk for that soft drink, you boost calcium to 420mg, a 250 percent increase. Likewise, you increase vitamin D by 625 percent, and potassium and magnesium by around 30 percent. Plus, you skip six teaspoons of sugar.