Miami-Dade County Public School District Partners With NESTLE NESQUIK for Healthy Vending Choices.

MIAMI -- Schools advance commitment to student nutrition with popular low fat milk

WHO

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) will offer students NESTLE NESQUIK 100 percent real, low fat (one percent) flavored milks in all senior high schools in NESQUIK-branded vending machines.

WHAT

A new partnership announced between MDCPS and NESTLE will provide students with better access to nutritious and great tasting flavored milks - providing a healthy, low fat alternative to other beverages with little nutrition.

--Miami-Dade County Public Schools will install 150 machines in 32 senior high schools by the start of the 2004/2005 school year.

--Students can choose from five delicious NESQUIK flavors: Chocolate, Very Vanilla, Strawberry, Double Chocolate and 1% Low Fat Milk (unflavored), plus Fat Free Chocolate.

--Milks are served chilled in 14-ounce, re-sealable ready-to-drink bottles.

--Each 8-ounce of milk provides nine essential vitamins and minerals students need for healthy development, including 40 percent of their Daily Value for calcium, plus protein.

WHY

Last school year, MD CPS piloted a NESQUIK low fat milk vending program in 17 senior high and middle schools. After a successful healthy vending pilot program, the district decided to expand the initiative.

The district attributed much of the success of the healthy vending pilot program to the popularity of NESQUIK. NESQUIK is America's #1 flavored milk brand(1).

INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

--Tom Holmberg, Administrator, Department of Food and Nutrition, MD CPS

--Penny Parham, Administrative Director, Department of Food and Nutrition, MD CPS

--Andrew Hill, Marketing Manager, NESQUIK Ready-to-Drink, NESTLE

STATS

--14.2% of high school students are at risk of being overweight and 10.4% are overweight (2).

--Nine out of 10 teenage girls and 7 out of ten teenage boys do not get enough calcium (3).

--Milk is the leading source of calcium in the typical American diet (4). Its displacement with soft drinks can jeopardize skeletal health (5).

--Kids (ages 6-17) who consumed more than 6-8 ounces of flavored dairy products each day had better diets than those who regularly drank sodas and sweetened fruit drinks (6).

--A national study shows 2.5 million kids (ages 10-17) use vending machines every day (7).

--Organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and Action for Healthy Kids are urging schools to provide low fat regular and flavored milk to students. State and federal regulations are also being introduced nationwide to restrict student access to foods of minimal nutritional value in favor of healthier options such as low fat (one percent) milk.

(1)Based on dollar market share in Grocery and Convenience Channels. A.C. Nielsen 52 wks ended 6/12/04.

(2)Florida Youth: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2001 (YRBS)

(3)USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals, 1996.

(4)Subar, AF, et al. "Dietary sources of nutrients among US children, 1989-1991." Pediatrics, 1998; 102:913-23.

(5)Whiting, S.J. et al. Nutrition Resolution. 21: 1107, 2001.

(6)Frary, C.D. et al. "Children and Adolescents' Choices of Foods and Beverages High in Added Sugars are Associated with Intakes of Key Nutrients and Food Groups." Journal of Adolescent Health. 2004; 34:56-63.

(7)Children's Health & Obesity: A National Study of Children Ages 10 to 17, and Their Parents. Prevention magazine & Rodale, Inc. 2004.