Change for life with milk

A recent pamphlet delivered in my son’s book bag was from the Public Health England’s campaign, ‘Change 4 Life.’ This laudable effort promotes healthy eating to the British public via humourous television advertisements and print media. However, when I opened it up, I was somewhat distressed to see they recommended skimmed milk for children over the age of five.

Now, skimmed milk is a great product, but as we all know, vitamins A and D are fat-soluble vitamins. Thus, the less fat you have in a product, the less vitamin there is. I know a fair amount of people who won’t drink full-fat milk, thinking it is ‘full of fat,’ when in fact it’s about 3.7-4%. Hardly a content to worry about.

Let the children drink their milk however they choose. I have ensured my own family drinks at least semi-skimmed, but it might prod other families to skip milk altogether in favour of other ‘less fatty’ drinks. There is already an issue with teenagers not drinking enough milk, and this brochure won’t do anything to discourage the idea that liquid milk is ‘fatty.’ They also seemed to recommend replacing butter with low-fat spreads. Again, spreads are a great idea, but why at the expense of butter? Reduced fat cheese was similarly touted as an alternative to full-fat cheese. Um, yes, but sometimes, reduced fat is just not worth it. Eat your full-fat cheese and enjoy.

That being said, the recipes inside looked delicious. I am minded to try the porridge and yogurt breakfast, or the soft cheese and pineapple wraps myself.