Food Police: Milk is Unhealthy for Kids

Townhall.com ^ | 04/21/04 | Mike Burita

[TXBubba]

Food Police: Milk Is Unhealthy for Kids

Soon-to-be-Released Vending-Machine Report Is Latest Baseless Assault Against Soft Drinks

Washington, DC – Attention parents and teachers! The food police have added whole and two-percent milk to the list of "poor nutritional quality" beverages in their crosshairs, recommending that they be removed from American's schools. This and other ridiculous assertions are contained in a report being circulated by the self-described "food police" at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). The draft report, rumored to be released this month, bears the name of CSPI's activist coalition, the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA). NANA is part of an anti-soda crusade which advocates taxing sodas and restricting their availability in order to eliminate fizzy drinks from the diets of both children and adults.

"Anyone who would suggest that milk is unhealthy for kids is out to lunch," said Richard Berman, executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom. "CSPI once boasted that it was ‘proud about finding something wrong with practically everything.' Now it's proven it."

The report concludes that school districts and local, state and federal governments should banish beverages and snacks that CSPI claims are contributing to the nation's obesity. But evidence linking childhood obesity to sodas and snacks is utterly lacking.

Suggesting a causal link between soda consumption and childhood obesity, the CSPI/NANA report relies solely on a flawed study by Harvard University researcher and "fat tax" advocate David Ludwig. Ludwig admitted in his own conclusion that, "there is no clear evidence that consumption of sugar per se ... causes obesity." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoed Ludwig's conclusion: "There are no data from the Harvard study that allow us to make an estimate of what proportion of obesity might be accounted for by changes in soft drink consumption."

This is not the first time the anti-soda movement has relied on faulty science to make their case. In 1998 CSPI issued a report titled "Liquid Candy," which claimed that some teenagers get up to 25 percent of their calories from soda. Just one week later, following massive media attention, CSPI admitted that it had overstated this figure by a whopping 100 percent. In fact, American boys drink less than half the amount of soft drinks initially claimed by CSPI. While CSPI quietly made a correction (after the media fracas died down), it still heavily promotes its "Liquid Candy" report.

"NANA should rename itself NANNY," added Mr. Berman. "Nagging Americans with a finger-wagging ‘no no' won't shrink anyone's waistline. This is just another attempt by CSPI's Puritans to restrict foods they don't like. And as usual, there's no science in the public interest to back them up."

The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.

[TXBubba]

I think my head is going to explode.

[TXBubba]

Ping

[Guillermo]

Cows milk is good for baby cows.

[Redcoat LI]

"The food police have added whole and two-percent milk to the list of 'poor nutritional quality' beverages in their crosshairs, recommending that they be removed from American's schools."

Just what exactly do these freaks want us to drink?

[theDentist]

Non-Thinking Smug PETAphiles not healthy for mankind.

[TXBubba]

I would say water but we all know how dangerous THAT can be!

[Desdemona]

So are they going to pass out calcium, vitamin D and potassium suppliments instead?

Talk about bad bones and teeth waiting to happen.

[TYVets]

If NANA has a position on abortion, want to bet which way they lean?

[billb]

I can see thier logic: Everyone has drunk milk either is dead or will be.

[RosieCotton]

Dihydrogen Monoxide can be VEY hazardous to your health.

[FReepaholic]

Did you know milk has pus in it?

Your State's Pus Count

[conserv13]

Cows milk is good for baby cows.

Thank you.

[Dasaji]

Cows milk is good for baby cows
---
Ditto - cows have 4 stomachs in which to digest cow's milk. Very hard for the human body to digest, causes immune response in the gut, aggravates/exascerbates mucous, especially in young children prone to ear infection. My first baby had awful ear infections as soon as we introduced cow's milk...within a day of removal, ear infections gone.

[Blzbba]

I don't know about 'poor nutritional quality', but anyone who drinks milk is getting much more than they bargained for:

Milk Facts

Pus Counts in Milk

Milk. It does a body bad.

[Guillermo]

I had to be taken off of it as an infant as well.

I don't see how anyone can drink the stuff.

[gcruse]

But evidence linking childhood obesity to sodas and snacks is utterly lacking.

Oh, yea?

[dalereed]

I've consumed whole milk for the last 66 years in large quantities, still drink over 2 gallons per week, and haven't been sick in 58 years, can still fit the clothes I graduated from high school in, and am not alergic to anything.

Milk is healthy and the best drink available.

One thing I very seldom drink is water, you know what fish do in it!

[TXBubba]

I understand about children who can't handle the stuff. But my pediatricians practically threatened me with jail if I gave my kids anything but whole milk before they turned two. After all juice is evil and developes bad eating habits they say. After age two the whole milk was to be dropped immediately and switched to skim or I think the kid was going to die immediately or something. I just wish all these educated doctors etc. would get their act together and agree on something some time. I'm really sick of swinging back and forth.

[doug9732]

"Anyone who would suggest that milk is unhealthy for kids is out to lunch,"

So sorry to be branded as insane, but ordinary commercial milk is full of artificial growth hormones given to the cow to cause it to produce more milk. It caused symptoms of puberty in my 8 year old daughter. The symptoms went away when we switched to strictly organic milk.
Milk is also highly allergenic, and is associated with both Type 1 childhood diabetes onset ( especially when given to infants ), and also multiple sclerosis in adults. This is peer-reviewed, published science, and if the milk industry doesn't like it that's just too bad for them.
The healthiest things to drink are water, green tea, and diluted fruit juice. Healthwise, cows milk is really only an ideal food for baby cows.

[laurav]

It's interesting - I read somewhere that about 70% of Caucasians can digest milk, but about 70% of African-Americans cannot. Schools that force milk on kids are asking for a lot of upset tummies every afternoon.