In the second year of the pandemic, the program "Milk in Schools" historic European program, it turns into a media campaign. The program accompanies primary school pupils in a nutritional education path, which aims to promote the benefits of a correct diet among children, encouraging them to increase the consumption of milk in their daily diet, then maintaining the habit for the whole life.
The purpose of the 2021 campaign, conducted as always, by Unionacamere and, in Piedmont, by Chamber of Commerce of Turin, is to alert schools in view of the return of on-site activities for the 2021/2022 school year.
Fresh milk, but also yogurt (also "lactose free" for the intolerant) and cheeses - traditional or DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) - are distributed free of charge to the children of the schools participating in the Program, to make them appreciate the different flavors and tell how many and which ways can be tasted.
As part of the "Milk in the Schools" program, following the European guidelines, both scientific training meetings are organized for teachers, and themed days full of playful-didactic activities for children, also involving families.
During these meetings the nutritional characteristics of dairy products and their link with the territory are explained but above all, through engaging activities, the tasting of different types of products is proposed, so that students can orient their tastes.
The "Milk in Schools" funded program by the European Union was born with these objectives, created annually by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, in collaboration with Unioncamere, some Italian Chambers of Commerce and the CREA - Council for Research in Agriculture. and the analysis of the agrarian economy.
For info on the campaign: www.lattenellescuole.it or: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
At the basis of Latte nella Scuole there is the study by Marangoni et al., 2009 and more recently in the Guidelines for a Healthy Diet (Crea, 2018), where it is stated that an "ideal" breakfast model must provide not only carbohydrates but also proteins and fats. The presence of dairy products therefore has the advantage of providing in addition to calcium also proteins and lipids that will contribute to a satiating effect. Therefore, the simultaneous intake of milk, cereals and fruit during breakfast should be privileged.
Milk is identified by the Milk in Schools program as a privileged source of calcium, in a form that is particularly easy to absorb and use. In fact, in milk, thanks to the presence of phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, zinc, but also lactose and proteins, there are the optimal conditions for the absorption of this mineral, which therefore has a high bioavailability in milk.
