Reminding kids of a forgotten habit

BIRCH Tree Fortified brand ambassador Yap reminds schoolchildren to drink milk regularly.

A few weeks before classes ended at Timoteo Paez Elementary School in Pasay City, hundred of kids from Kindergarten to Grade 2 had their final serving of free glasses of milk. This was the third time it was done in the school along with 73 others located in Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon.

After three months, over 300,000 kids benefited from the campaign dubbed “Me and My Milk.”

“The campaign is meant to revive a seemingly forgotten habit, which is to drink at least two glasses of milk every day,” said actor Richard Yap, who along with child star Mutya Orquia, serves as brand ambassador of Birch Tree Fortified that provided the free milk.

Yap added: “Even though a lot of foods contain calcium, milk is a particularly-efficient and inexpensive way to get it. Sadly, not too many kids today drink their milk, which is why this campaign was conceived.”

Last year, Birch Tree Fortified powdered milk teamed up with the Department of Education to identify the schools to be included in the campaign.

Yap reminded his young audience that starting the milk-drinking habit as a child can lead to lifelong benefits.

At present, the country falls under the required daily consumption of milk compared with its Asian neighbors or with the rest of the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Philippines’ milk consumption is just 17.83 kilograms/capita/year compared to Thailand’s 22.48 kg/capita/year; Malaysia’s 36.89 kg/capita/year; or China’s 28.7 kg/capita/year. The world average is 108 kg/capita/year with Finland’s 361.19 kg/capita/year; The Netherlands’ 320.15 kg/capita/year; and the United States’ 253.8 kg/capita/year among the highest.

Yap explained that schoolchildren need a good diet in order to grow well, be protected from disease and have the energy to study. He said: “They also need knowledge and skills to make good food choices and develop eating habits that will help keep them healthy throughout their lives. I believe that with Birch Tree Fortified’s unique taste, even those who don’t like milk will go for it. Hopefully, these children would continue drinking milk for the rest of their lives.”

Guest nutritionist Armando Bautista explained that milk contains large amounts of essential nutrients and has rightly been recognized as nature’s single most complete food, an outstanding source of calcium and phosphorus for bones and teeth, and contains significant amounts of vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 as well as B12.

Bautista added that since Birch Tree Fortified is currently the only one in the market that contains FibroBoost, it has a unique formulation of inulin fiber, a natural soluble dietary fiber that helps the body absorb up to 18 percent more calcium.

In addition to calcium, milk also contains potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, protein and several important minerals.

“It’s a similar mix of building blocks that makes up our bones. A 2011 study that modeled data from the self-reported diets of 16,000 Americans found that people who take in little dairy, even if they incorporated substitutes like calcium-fortified soy milk, took in lower levels of all sorts of nutrients. Indeed, dozens and dozens of studies have shown that adults who get less than two-thirds of the recommended intake of calcium are technically deficient in four to six other key nutrients. Drinking milk every day should solve this,” said Bautista.