Bulletin of the IDF N° 480/ 2015: The contribution of school milk programmes to the nutrition of children worldwide

Publication description

Good nutrition is important for people of all ages. During childhood, good nutrition promotes normal growth and development. Children spend a significant amount of time at school on a day-to-day basis. As a result, the school environment can have a major impact on attitudes to food. Around the world, school milk programmes exist to encourage the consumption of milk and milk products by children in order to make a positive contribution to their nutritional status, to address issues of malnutrition and to engender healthy eating habits. In 2013, the FAO and the IDF worked collaboratively to conduct an extensive review of global school milk programmes. In the largest global review to date, the FAO and the IDF looked at school milk programme implementation, administration, promotion, nutritional importance, competitor promotion, packaging and market value. This special bulletin provides the results of that review. The insights gained from the review will be invaluable both to those who run school milk programmes and to the industry that supplies the school milk.

Keywords: School milk programmes, dairy, children, nutrition, consumption, eating habits, global