Milk is Disappearing From the Family Dinner Table

10/08/07 As families gather back around the dinner table, what was once a staple of the meal -- milk -- might be hard to find. Over the past decade, milk at dinner has steadily declined and nearly 60 percent of children's dinners do not include milk, according to new findings from The NPD Group. Conversely, 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.

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. Because of these findings, health experts like registered dietitian Jodie Shield are joining the nationwide Think About Your Drink campaign to urge parents to think about what's filling their children's glasses and make milk the "official drink of the family."

"As parents, it's important for us to realize that beverage choice may play a part in the fight against raising overweight, yet undernourished kids," said Shield. "And, 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."

Choosing milk at your next family dinner can have a real nutrition impact. 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, which is 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.

Additionally, choosing lowfat or fat free milk may help keep your family at a healthy weight. Research shows drinking the recommended three servings of lowfat or fat free milk everyday is an important part of a healthy diet for parents and their kids, and may also contribute toward maintaining a healthy weight.

Back to School, Back to Family Dinner

With Americans currently consuming two to three times the amount of sweetened beverages as they do milk, dinner is an important meal for parents to help control what their kids are drinking. Research shows that the more often a family eats together, the more likely their kids will choose calcium-rich drinks such as milk and shy away from nutrient-void sodas.

"Not only does eating dinner together promote family bonding," said Dr. Ari Brown, M.D., FAAP for the American Academy of Pediatrics, "but eating family meals promotes positive nutrition habits for kids."

Plus, eating dinner together might be an important meal to help keep kids at a healthy weight. Research shows that families who eat together may be less likely to have kids who are overweight.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Parents play an important role in keeping their family healthy and helping their children make positive choices. In fact, studies on mothers and daughters show that moms' own food choices may be more influential than any other attempt to control their daughters' food intake. A mother's decision to drink milk more frequently and to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains is likely to influence her daughter's choices.

"If we as parents don't practice what we preach, we end up sending our children and teens mixed messages," said Brown. "When you drink a glass of milk instead of soda, they will catch on."