Whole milk bill will benefit students, dairies
Bipartisan agreement on anything is rare these days, but there is a topic that even the deeply divided U.S. Congress can agree on: Milk.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which previously had been unanimously OK’d by the Senate. The bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature or a veto.
The bill would loosen restrictions on the kind of milk that can be served in schools. The restrictions were part of a larger effort to combat obesity by limiting high-fat, high-calories foods from school menus and making sure students had access to nutritious, wholesome food.
That is an important goal, but our understanding of nutrition has continued to improve over the last several decades. As a 2023 article in the journal Nutrients put it, “It is becoming increasingly clear that the effects of foods on obesity and metabolic health cannot be predicted simply with their fat content.”
That’s especially true when it comes to dairy. Whole milk is higher in fat content — and therefore calories — than reduced fat milk, but that doesn’t always equate to less healthy.
Sapna Batheja, an associate professor and dietary expert at George Mason University, wrote this earlier this year about whole milk.
“Some studies suggest that dairy fat may not be as harmful as once thought, and whole milk could have no effect or even protective effects on digestive health and weight management in certain populations,” Batheja wrote.
Given what we know about the benefits of milk, the decision to let schools make more options, including whole milk, available to students is the right one.
— JK
