Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Last week, President Trump signed a bill allowing whole milk to be served in schools for the first time in more than a decade. There is mixed reaction locally to the new law.
Pediatrician Dr. Steven Lana says whole milk has four percent fat, compared to 2 and 1 percent milks. He says while the difference doesn't appear to be that much, there is a problem with overweight and obesity. "It seems to me like we're going in the wrong direction by reintroducing whole milk to children that don't need it," says Lana. "The American Academy of Pediatrics has long recommended that by the age of two years, children unless they're underweight or failing to thrive, will do very well with 2% milk, and that is still the recommendation that pediatricians will go by. The reason that whole milk is important in the first two years is because the brain is still developing. There's myelinization that's occurring. That is, the myelin sheath around the neurons is still maturing, and so the extra fat is beneficial, not only for the calories, but also for brain development. That myelinization is pretty much completed by the age of two," which he says makes whole milk in school unnecessary.
He calls the new law counterintuitive. "It makes no sense. Just like a lot of things that have been coming out of the HHS make no sense these days," adds Lana. He says parents can step in. "These are advisory recommendations. They don't carry the weight of a law," explains Lana. He says parents have the right to say they don't want whole milk for their child. "By the way, it's bad advice to give children whole milk," says Lana.
Rob Hoover of Hoover Dairy says returning whole milk to school is good news. "Whole milk is, actually, our top seller, it has surpassed the 2% and skim," says Hoover. He says the bill signed by Trump could have a good impact. "Because I've had a few different people, especially the younger kids who are our best promoters of our product, just with the whole milk, because it's so good. And I think with kids getting exposed to that and in school now that, hey, they can have whole milk, it'd be like, 'Oh my gosh, this is good, it has a real good taste to it.' I think it's potentially could help us out too."
Hoover says a few of his customers are doctors who drink whole milk. "I think everybody's different," notes Hoover. "I guess each individual, it's what kind of lifestyle do they have? Are they active, and how your body reacts. I think it's more of an individual thing, but it's all natural."
The new legislation, which passed Congress last year by unanimous consent, rolls back US Department of Agriculture rules approved by the Obama administration that required milk served in schools to be fat-free or low-fat.