Almost half of Germany's approx. 12 million school-going children and adolescents leave home without a proper breakfast, and 10 percent do not breakfast at all. So the morning break at school plays a particularly important role for these youngsters. According to a dietary report by the German Nutrition Society, school children's diets are too sweet, too fatty and too salty. Calcium deficiencies due to such eating habits could easily be counteracted through milk. Primary-school children need 800 mg of calcium a day to ensure healthy bone formation. A quarter litre of milk can provide around 40 percent of this daily requirement. And a childhood diet rich in calcium can also help prevent osteoporosis – an increasingly critical problem, especially among women.

Combined, a child's home-breakfast and morning-break meals should constitute no less than 35 percent of its daily requirements. Nutritionists are concerned about the decline in school milk offerings, for, if milk is no longer provided at schools, many children tend to choose sugary drinks which, while they may be rich in calories, are low in nutritional value. Calcium intake is at risk, given that the effects of the "calcium-depleting” substances contained in sweet drinks are underestimated. And tooth decay and obesity are on the increase. It is important, therefore, that practical dietary teachings be incorporated into the school and kindergarten curriculum. Children need to learn about diet – at least to a rudimentary degree – and about the consequences of either correct or poor dietary habits.