title: Got low-fat milk? How a community-based coalition changed school milk policy in New York City.
abstract: In 2006, New York City, the largest school district in the country, eliminated whole milk and reduced the availability of sweetened milk in 1,579 schools. Despite pressure from the American Dairy Council, skepticism from school food administrators and elected officials, and the difficulties inherent in changing a system that serves 120,000,000 containers of milk per year, a community-led coalition prevailed. This article describes how parents, educational leaders, advocates, and health professionals collaborated to educate school children and their families to choose low-fat milk, and created change at a system, policy, and environmental level to promote health in the community.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Family Health, Bronx Health REACH/Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Disparities, 16 East 16th St, New York, NY 10003, USA. mgolub@institute2000.org
authors.forename: Maxine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golub
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charlop
authors.forename: Adriana Estela
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Groisman-Perelstein
authors.forename: Charmaine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruddock
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Calman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services; D005522:Food Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards; D006265:Health Care Coalitions; D006286:Health Planning Councils; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006304:Health Status; D040361:Healthy People Programs; D006801:Humans; D008892:Milk / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009519:New York City; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D016730:Program Development; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards