People who Drink Chocolate Milk are Fat. . . OR ARE THEY?

One of my kids' favorite activities in the summertime is the free lunch program run by the school districts.  We live in Granite School District, but we prefer Jordan School District lunches. It's like the difference between gross and pretty yummy.  Anyway, we go to a school very close to our house for free lunch and we have been going there for several years.  I call it "Reclaiming my taxes."

We often seen daycare providers using this program to feed the children in their charge.  There is a particular woman who comes frequently and  brings about 6 or 7 young children with her. There have been quite a few times when my family sat next to her group. And, several times over the years, this lady makes some comments that make me want to share my opinion with her.  But, I haven't done it yet, because I don't want her to beat me up, swear at me, or cause an ugly scene at the nice free lunch school.

I bet you want to know what she talks about. Well, I think my title might have given you a clue.  Here's how it goes down. . . . .
My children sit down with their lunch trays.  4 of my 6 children usually choose chocolate milk.  Her charges see the chocolate milk and one of them says,"I want chocolate milk."  The lady, we'll call her DL, for Daycare Lady, not for Devil Lady, says,"Chocolate milk is bad for you!  It's full of sugar. It will make you fat!"
The child looks up at her with trust and wonder and replies,"So, chocolate milk is bad?"
DL,"Yes."
Child,"It will make me fat."
DL" Yes, people who drink chocolate milk are fat!"

Okay, it is at that point that I kind of want to reach over and SLAP her!  I mean, seriously, it's one thing to tell the kids that white milk is a healthier choice. That is true.  It's even true that the chocolate milk has more sugar. More on that later.  But to take it one step further and basically call my children fat is just plain rude.  We were sitting really close to each other, and she knew I could hear her. There was only one small child between me and her.  And, honestly, this is at least the third time she has said this about chocolate milk when my kids sit down with chocolate milk.  She isn't talking to my kids. She isn't talking to me. She's just calling my kids fat. And calling me fat too for that matter.  Cause, you know what?  I drink chocolate milk too!  And I LOVE IT!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7801188/Chocolate-milk-can-help-athletes-recover.html

Devil Lady, I mean, Daycare Lady, is a liar.  Or maybe she is just lacking in crucial knowledge and skills of tactfulness.  Even if it is true that chocolate milk makes you fat, she shouldn't have been saying that in front of my kids who were drinking chocolate milk.

So, let's talk facts.  I love cold, hard, non-disputable facts.  OK.

FACT( You have to say this in your head like the KidHistory guy. If you haven't watched KidHistory, you need to watch KidHistory. It is very funny and very clean and good for your soul. So, Google FACT KidHistory, and watch it. .  right now.)

Ok, I got a little distracted there.

FACT:
One container of TruMoo plain milk served at Heartland Elementary for the free lunch has 100 calories and 12 grams of sugar.  This is an 8 oz. serving.  EVERY single 8 oz. serving of cow's milk in the world has 12 grams of sugar.  Why? There is naturally occurring sugar in milk. It's called Lactose. Quite a few people have tolerance issues with lactose.  Anyway, it's in there. 12 grams.  Every time.


FACT:
One container of TruMoo chocolate milk served at Heartland Elementary for the free lunch has 120 calories and 18 grams of sugar.  12 of those grams of sugar come from the naturally occurring lactose.  6 of them are added in the form of another sugar.  It grows on a cane. Technically, to me anyway, that is a vegetable.  One gram of sugar has 4 calories.  Those extra 6 grams should make the calorie total 124.  This is a little confusing, but that's what the box says. I know the chocolate milk is fat free.  In the 1% variety, which is not offered at the school, the white milk as 110 calories and the chocolate milk has 140. They both have 8 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat, and the same sugar content as the fat free milk.


Let's talk about 6 grams of sugar.  I'm not saying it's nothing.  It is 24 calories.  That is the same as 1/4th of a banana, or 1/4th of a bag of fruit snacks. Ok. I'm just going to tell the complete and total truth.  6 grams of sugar is 1.5 teaspoons. Or 1.5 starbursts.  Or 1.5 Tbsp. of ketchup.

A 12 ounce soda has around 45 grams of sugar.

Don't even get me started on yogurt. Okay, get me started on yogurt. One 8 oz. strawberry yoplait yogurt has 170 calories and 26 grams of sugar.

And let's not forget that milk has 12 grams of sugar from the get go.  I guess that might just make some people fat too.  Did I mention that DL was, well, not skinny. She was very much not skinny.  Do you think maybe she is drinking chocolate milk after the little kids go home? Is that how she knows chocolate milk is full of sugar and makes people fat?

I promise I am almost done ranting.  It's just that, well, I know chocolate milk isn't exactly health food. And, I know that calories add up over time.  And I know that it takes 3,500 calories to gain a pound, so just by choosing chocolate milk and not cutting back in another area, theoretically my children could gain a pound after drinking 175 cartons of chocolate milk instead of white milk.  We go to the free lunch about 3 times a week over the 10 week summer, so they would gain a pound in about 6 years.  Of course, this is assuming that they overeat, that they don't adjust their intake for the extra calories. I don't know.  I guess, that maybe, I should be really worried about how that chocolate milk is going to make them one pound fatter in 6 years.  Really! How do I sleep at night? I am a terrible mother!  We can ignore the fact that most of my children are rather skinny.  Three of them tend to hover between 1 and 25% on the growth charts.  My 8 year old wears size 4T pants as capris. What am I thinking?  I've got to stop this chocolate milk madness.  Truly!

And you know, DL might have convinced me to spend a moment considering whether or not she could be right, but as I sat watching her let her kids eat  the huge chocolate chip cookies that also came with the lunch, I kind of forgot about the chocolate milk.  I wonder how much sugar those cookies had in them?   Actually, I don't care.  I'll take the cookie and the milk, thank you very much! Yummy!


http://www.pillarsofmodernman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/chocolate-milk.jpg