Southwest Middle students are proving that milk really does a body good. As the winner of the statewide Fuel Up with Milk competition, the school won a pep rally March 9 with the Carolina Panthers and the Southeast Dairy Association for increasing its milk consumption by 46 percent during the six week competition.
The Southeast Dairy Association, Carolina Panthers and CMS Child Nutrition Services are working together to combat childhood obesity and provide education on the importance of three daily servings of dairy as part of a healthy diet.
During the pep rally, Everette Brown, a defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, discussed the importance of regular physical activity and eating healthy.
Southwest Middle was rewarded with $300 to help promote healthy school lunch choices. Other CMS schools noted for increasing milk consumption during the contest include: Starmount Pre-Kindergarten by 27 percent, Ballantyne Elementary School by 14 percent and East Mecklenburg High School by 12 percent.
“We are very excited to have won this contest,” said Dr. Valerie G. Williams, principal of Southwest Middle School. “Milk is a healthy choice for our students and we have really pushed the nutritional value of Vitamin D, which has helped our school increase the sale of milk by 90 percent.”
Vitamin D helps promote the absorption of calcium for health bones and maintains normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus.
Milk is also packed with other essential nutrients important to health.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, one glass of fat-free milk contains:
- 80 calories and 0 grams of fat
- 30 percent calcium
- 25 percent Vitamin D
- 20 percent Phosphorus
- 20 percent Riboflavin
- 16 percent protein
- 13 percent Vitamin B-12
- 11 percent Potassium
- 10 percent Vitamin A
- 10 percent Niacin
The Southeast Dairy Association partners with three other National Football League teams - the Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons - to improve the nutrition and physical activity of students.
CMS also works with the Panthers and Southeast Dairy Association to expand the district’s breakfast programs. Students who eat a nutritious breakfast are likely to improve performance in the classroom and have reduced behavioral problems. The Expanding Breakfast program provides innovative solutions to the breakfast dilemma faced by many schools - how to get students to eat the most important meal of the day. The Southeast Dairy Association works with nutrition professionals, principals and teachers to find the best solution for each school and to increase participation in school breakfast.