Objective: To compare treatment, sex, and visit differences in beverage choice and calcium intake in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children, to compare the relationship of other beverages to milk consumption, and document whether or not the dietary intervention affected choice of beverage and milk type over time.
Design: Data from the Dietary Intervention Study in Children, a randomized, controlled, multicenter, clinical trial with five sets of three 24-hour recalls.
Subjects: Six hundred fifty-three children from six clinics started the study at age 8 to 10 years. Participants had serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels between the 80th and 98th percentiles of age, and were followed for a median of 7.3 years.
Intervention: Children were randomized to a total fat- and saturated fat-modified dietary intervention or usual care.
Main outcome measures: Volume and percent of total energy from soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, fruit juice, and milk, calcium intake in milligrams and per 1,000 kcal, and percent reduced-fat and skim milk consumed.
Statistical analyses: General Estimating Equations methodology was used to adjust for treatment, sex, and visit differences.
Results: The intervention group consumed more reduced-fat or skim milk than the usual care group. The intervention group also reported a greater increase in calcium per 1,000 kcal than those in the usual care group due to nonbeverage sources. Consumption of soft drinks increased over the course of the study, whereas total milk consumption decreased sharply.
Conclusions: With nutrition education, children can make changes in the type of milk consumed, and in the quantity of dietary calcium consumed.