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Students For Milk!

Promoting Healthy Bones

Let's Talk About Healthy Bones...

Bones...We have 206 bones in our body
Bones...Help us stand tall and give us shape
Bones...Work with our muscles to help us move
Bones...Help protect our heart, lungs, brain, eyes and other organs
Bones...Stay strong and keep growing when we exercise and eat a variety of healthy foods — especially foods and drinks with calcium!!

Lets Talk About Calcium...

As you grow, so do your bones. In order to build a strong skeleton that will help you stand tall and protect your organs, it is important to get enough calcium.

Calcium...

• is mostly found in your bones and teeth
• helps your muscles move so you can do activities and exercise
• helps your heart pump blood throughout your body
• helps the nerves in your body react to pain, hot things, and cold things

Getting enough calcium when you’re still growing will help you build strong bones for later in life.

Banking on Healthy Bones For Your Future

When you are young and growing your body starts to store Calcium in your bones. It is like saving money in a bank. So, later in life when your bones stop storing a lot of calcium, your body is able to pull it from your body’s calcium bank without making the skeleton weak and brittle.

When you do not get enough calcium and other nutrients during this time of your life, there is a good chance that the bones in your body when your older adults will start wearing down and start to get holes. The more holes that bones have increases the chance for them to become weak and brittle and even break.

Osteoporosis...

Is what can happen when you do not get enough exercise and not enough calcium from the foods you eat and the milk you drink!

Osteoporosis is a disease that is mostly found in the older population. This can happen when a person does not exercise or eat a variety of healthy foods, especially foods from the MILK & DAIRY food group. That is why it is so important to eat healthy and stay active throughout life, particularly during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.

Osteoporosis is a very serious disease. Because you are still growing and your body is still building for the future,

Osteoporosis will not show up now. If you play sports and have broken bones, this may be a sign that you need to start feeding your bones with more calcium.

Instead of having a soda pop have a glass of milk.

That is why it is essential that you protect yourself from this disease now by eating healthy foods that have a lot of calcium. Also, get plenty of exercise. Start filling that bone bank now, so you have plenty later in life.

Milk & Dairy Food Group

This food group helps you get Calcium in your body. It also helps you get other nutrients that are important for bone growth and strength, like Vitamin D. Your body needs vitamin D to help you use the calcium to build and maintain a solid and strong skeleton. Other important nutrients found in the MILK & DAIRY food group is Vitamin A, Magnesium, and Phosphorous. All of these help you stay healthy.

3-4 SERVINGS FROM THE MILK & DAIRY GROUP A DAY WILL HELP YOU GET ENOUGH CALCIUM TO HELP YOU GROW AND STORE CALCIUM IN YOUR BONE BANK.

POPULAR FOODS THAT CONTAIN LOTS OF CALCIUM THAT COME FROM THE MILK & DAIRY FOOD GROUP INCLUDE:

Click here for a word search puzzle and find foods from the Milk & Dairy Group.

The Importance of Providing Milk in Schools

Milk, including flavored milk, provides nine essential nutrients important for optimal health: calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin (niacin equivalents).

Drinking low-fat or fat-free white or flavored milk helps youth get the 3 daily servings of milk and milk products recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and it provides three of the four "nutrients of concern" that children do not get enough of – calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Reasons to Believe

• Milk is America's #1 source of calcium, potassium and vitamin D
• Milk, including flavored milk, provides protein, calcium and vitamin D, which are essential for healthy muscles and bone development – particularly during growth spurts in adolescence
• Children who drink chocolate milk have better diets--higher intakes of calcium, Vitamin A, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium—than nondrinkers
• Discover what milk delivers – great taste plus 9 essential nutrients

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in a policy statement discouraging soft drinks in schools[i] and also in its report on optimizing infants', children's and adolescents' bone health and calcium intakes,[ii]encourages consumption of nutritious beverages including low-fat or fat-free flavored milk.

Dairies across the U.S. have reformulated flavored milk so it's lower in both sugar and total calories. These new products aim to reduce sugar and calories while maintaining great taste, so that kids will drink their milk instead of throwing it away.

[i] American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement: Soft Drinks in Schools. Pediatrics 2004; 113: 152-154.

[ii] Greer FR, Krebs NF and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition. American Academy of Pediatrics, Optimizing bone health and calcium intakes of infants, children, and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2006; 117(2):578-585.

Use Lowfat Milk, Cheese & Yogurt for Healthier School Meals

Mom always said, "Drink your milk." Mom was right again! People who drink milk have better diets and get many important nutrients including calcium, which is abundant in milk, cheese and yogurt.

The vast majority of children do not get the recommended amount of calcium (9-13 year olds, only 5 percent of girls & 25 percent of boys get the calcium they need) needed for healthy bone growth.

Click here to read the fact sheet about how dairy can help students fulfill their daily dietary needs.

Your Kids Need Calcium!

Growing Children Need Calcium to Build Strong Bones and Teeth!

Milk and most dairy foods are excellent sources. How much do your children need? (Most children who are 2 to 5 years old need 2 cups of milk and dairy foods each day.)

Click here to read the handout about what counts as one cup of milk. Also, see a breakdown of the Food Guide Pyramid and the different dietary needs of children ages 2 - 5.