President Trump signed a bill on Wednesday to put whole milk back on the menu in school cafeterias, which some health experts believe could provide a nutrient-dense option and potentially increase the likelihood of children choosing to drink milk.
The new legislation overturns a 2012 Obama administration policy that limited milk options available under the National School Lunch Program to skim and low-fat, in hopes of lowering childhood obesity.
Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images, FILE – PHOTO: In this July 6, 2017, file photo, milk is offered during lunch for summer school elementary students at Washington High School in San Francisco, Calif.
It notably comes on the heels of new federal dietary guidelines put forward by the Trump administration that recommend consumption of full-fat dairy.
The bill Trump signed, the bipartisan Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, cleared Congress last fall. The Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it will rewrite Child Nutrition Programs to align with the updated guidelines and begin implementing the policy with school nutrition officials immediately.
Trump signs a law returning whole milk to school lunches
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Registered dietitian Maya Feller has worked with Wellness in the Schools, a nonprofit that works to inspire healthy eating for public school students, and said she has seen firsthand the nuances of children’s consumption habits.
While she called the new law “an interesting move,” she told ABC News there’s more to consider, such as a need for reform of meals centered around nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods.
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images – PHOTO: Girl carrying lunch tray at school
“It’s good for children to have options, and for many, this may increase the likelihood that they will drink milk, which is a nutrient-dense option,” she said.
She added that “plain, full-fat dairy is a meaningful source of 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, and potassium,” noting that those same nutrients “are present in lactose-free milk, low-fat, and fat-free milk” as well.
Feller explained said “the fat in whole milk, when consumed with a food containing vitamins A, D, E, or K, helps to make those fat-soluble vitamins more bioavailable in the body.”
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Since many children get the bulk of their nutrition for the day from school food, Feller said she hopes adding whole milk is done in tandem with offering more whole food options in schools, including “a variety of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.”
Culinary medicine expert Dr. Nate Wood told ABC News that while whole milk contains good nutrients, he’s more concerned about the saturated fat and additional calories.
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images – PHOTO: Three Whole Milk Cartons
Still, he said, “If kids are currently not drinking any milk at school because only low-fat and nonfat options are offered, but they would drink whole milk, then I think it would be a good thing to give them that option.”
The new legislation adds a whole milk option to School Lunch Program offerings but requires schools to also provide options including 2%, 1% and lactose-free milk. It also permits schools to serve nondairy options that meet nutritional standard requirements if parents provide a note of dietary restrictions.
Wood, an assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, stated that low-fat and nonfat milk “has been our go-to recommendation for adults and many children for quite some time.”
He also pointed out that there isn’t enough data to definitively say that whole milk contributes to obesity in children.
“Importantly, sweetened and flavored milks are not going to be health-promoting options because of the added sugars,” Wood added. “Those should not be offered in schools no matter if they’re nonfat, low-fat, or whole.”
