Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113285

Jennifer Reilly, RD¹, Amy Joy Lanou, PhD², and Neal D. Barnard, MD². (1) The Cancer Project, 5100 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20016, (2) Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20016, 202-686-2210 ext. 354, alanou@pcrm.org

Many U.S. children are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk, or choose to avoid milk for other reasons, such as taste preferences, religious or ethical considerations, or health needs. Enriched soymilk contains an equivalent amount of calcium, vitamins D, and A, compared to cow's milk, but contains no lactose, cholesterol, or animal fat. This study tested whether children would select and consume soymilk, when offered in single-serving containers alongside milk in school lunch cafeterias during a four-week period at three ethnically diverse schools in South Florida. Before the introduction of soymilk, 79.0% of children took milk with their lunch, after 4 weeks of soymilk availability 83.1% of children took milk or soymilk with their lunch. After four weeks, cartons selected were 66.7% chocolate milk, 14.8% chocolate soymilk, 10.4% whole milk, 6.6% vanilla soymilk, 1.2% low-fat milk, and 0.4% skim milk. Total soymilk selection was 21.4% of the milk taken from the lunch line. The ratio of calcium consumed/g saturated fat in children's beverage selection rose from 194 milligrams to 237 milligrams of calcium/g saturated fat after four weeks of soymilk availability. When soymilk options were available, 1 in 5 children chose soymilk, more children took some type of calcium-rich beverage with their lunch, compared to when dairy milk was the sole option and overall children consumed a greater ratio of calcium to saturated fat from calcium-rich beverages. Enriched soymilk may, therefore, be a useful option to meet the health and nutritional needs of the ethnically diverse children in schools.

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