Back in the day when I went to elementary school, it was always white milk Monday through Thursday with chocolate milk being reserved for a treat on Fridays. We always looked forward to Fridays. Seems like a good compromise here. The problem with making food choices "good" or "bad" is that when finally allowed to choose for themselves, some people go too far in choosing "bad." It's okay to have a treat once in a while, just not every meal. Let's teach better choices regarding food.

This is amazing! Should I put chocolate fudge sauce on my kid's cheerios since he won't eat those without some kind of sweetner? It's like people that dump all kinds of junk on lettece and call it a "healthy option". Take away the chocoloate milk and don't even make it an option, along with soda, and all that other junk they pass of as "juice", or "vitamin water". Eventually the kids will either drink milk, water, or go thirsty. After a while, milk and water start to look pretty satisfying (which they are anyway) to a thirsty person.

I'm the nut who always posts comments arguing that the American diet is horrible and that we need to create a culture of positive health and fitenss.

It may be strange then to hear that I regularly give my kids chocolate milk. Granted, I make the chocolate milk with cocoa powder, vanilla and cane sugar instead of buying a brown bottle of "high-fructose artificial colouring preservatives".

I give them chocolate milk when they are engaging in sports. Chocolate milk is better for them than sports drinks which I'd never drink myself much less let a child drink them. Sports drinks were never intended for children's bodies and throw the electrolyte balance off in children as much as sugary soda does. If it has the suffix -ade on it then it's not in my house.

Chocolate milk also contains electrolytes AND protein. At the Olympic training centre in Colorado Springs, many of the athletes prefer chocolate milk over sports drinks for this reason.

I agree that treats should be given sparingly (Friday only at school is a good idea) but I'd rather the kids get chocolate milk than any form of soda.

I am 49 and train for triathalons. I have found the best sports drink hands down is chocolate milk. Gives more energy and lasts longer on those long bike rides.

My body fat has droped below 9 percent since using chocolate milk.

I too have to admit that chocolate milk is one of the best pre and post workout drinks around. Just make sure it is non-fat or 1%. You just have to be careful with the "before" and drink it long enough in advance that you don't get an upset stomach. But after workouts it is a treat.

At least for elementary schoolers, choices of beverage should not enter the picture. I don't think we were deprived when the only alternative to regular milk in school was juice, and that only for kids with milk allergies. I was a picky eater, but I think having to make do with one meal, no choices, was educational. Looking back now, I also think that having food cooked in the school was great. The prepared convenience foods my kids get is extremely disappointing.

Watch the DVD called FOOD, Inc., to see the push and why. Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner uses reports by Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser and The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan as a springboard to exploring where the food we purchase at the grocery store really comes from, and what it means for the health of future generations. By exposing the comfortable relationships between business and government, Kenner gradually shines light on the dark underbelly of the American food industry. The USDA and FDA are supposed to protect the public, so why is it that both government regulatory agencies have been complicit in allowing corporations to put profit ahead of consumer health, the American farmer, worker safety, and even the environment? As chicken breasts get bigger and tomatoes are genetically engineered not to go bad, 73,000 Americans fall ill from powerful new strains of E. coli every year, obesity levels are skyrocketing, and adult diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. Perhaps if the general public knew how corporations use exploited laws and subsidies to create powerful monopolies, the outrage would be enough to make us think more carefully about the food we put into our bodies.

So what if it's chocolate, some kids will only drink it this way. It's way better than white and has its own flavor. What's better:)