Flavored milk may be as healthy for kids as plain

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite its added sugar, flavored milk may be better for kids than no milk at all, and may even be as healthy as the plain variety, a study of U.S. children suggests.

Using national survey data on more than 7,500 2- to 18-year-olds, researchers found that those who drank flavored milk had similar intakes of calcium, vitamin A, potassium and saturated fat as those who drank only plain milk.

And both groups, the study found, got more of these nutrients than children who drank no milk at all.

One reason parents might be wary of chocolate or strawberry milk is that the added sugar might encourage excess weight gain. But in this study, milk drinkers and non-drinkers had a similar average body mass index (BMI), the researchers report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The findings suggest that flavored milk can be part of a sound diet for children, according to the research team, led by Mary M. Murphy, a nutrition science researcher with Arlington, Virginia-based ENVIRON International Corp.

Experts recommend that children get two to three servings of dairy products per day, Murphy and her colleagues note.

"Access to low-fat or nonfat flavored milk could help children and adolescents meet the recommended intakes of dairy servings," they write.

The study, funded by the National Dairy Council, is based on results from a government health and nutrition survey. Murphy's team found that among the 7,557 children and teens those who drank flavored milk tended to drink more milk per day than their peers who only consumed the plain variety.

Compared with kids who did not drink milk at all, both groups of milk drinkers generally got more phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and vitamin A each day.