According to a study in the April edition Journal of the American Dietetic Association, introducing soymilk in elementary school menus would boost the number of children who select a calcium-rich beverage in the lunch line. This would also reduce the amount of saturated fat consumed from calcium-rich beverages.
A four week study was conducted at three ethnically diverse elementary schools in Florida. The results were that almost a quarter of students were choosing soymilk over cow's milk at the end of a month. A 4% increase in the calcium-rich beverage selection and calcium consumption per gram of saturated fat consumed from calcium-rich beverages from 194 milligrams to 237 milligrams was observed.
In the words of Jennifer Reilly, R.D., a Cancer Project dietitian and the study's lead author, "Soymilk has major health advantages over cow's milk," "It avoids the problem of lactose intolerance and skips the 'bad' fats--and kids seem to like it."
Another great advantage of the study is in solving the problem of lactose intolerance. Most of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans are lactose intolerant and thus enriched soymilk with no lactose and little or no saturated fat, plus presence of as much calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D as dairy milk is the answer.
