| BARBER DAIRIES LAUNCHES CALCIUM CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE MOMS AND DAUGHTERS
Birmingham, AL (December 10, 2002) - Barber Dairies has begun a consumer advertising campaign to educate parents and children - and especially mothers and daughters - about emerging new research that further underscores the importance of calcium in the daily diet of children and teens.* 85% of teen-age girls (and 60% of teen-age boys) aren’t getting enough daily calcium (ages 9-18 years 1,300 milligrams RDA)
- Calcium is the major mineral thatstrengthens bones; milk and other dairy products have the highestconcentration of calcium the body can quickly absorb
- Teens often abandon milkand other dairy products because they fear these choices will makethem ‘fat.’
- A Harvard School of Public Healthstudy of 9th & 10th grade girls found that thosewho drank colas were three timesmore likely to develop bone fractures than those who did not; amongphysically active girls,those who drank colas were five times more likely to break bones
- Girls whose diets don’t provide thenutrients to build bones to maximum potential are at risk for weakenedbones and disabling injuries later in life
Barber Dairies President Johnny Collins noted, “Some health professionals have called it a ‘calcium crisis’ for our children - and educators, among others, who are responsible for our children’s well-being outside the home are responding by making some difficult choices.” Sometimes the decisions come down to a conflict between health issues vs economic ones. Collins cites the fact that the Los Angeles Unified School Board recently voted to ban the sale of soft drinks in all 677 of its schools during school hours. The schools have until 2004 to take sodas out of their vending machines and replace them with water, juice, milk or sports drinks. Critics of the ban worry about revenue shortfalls from soda sales which often pay for extracurricular activities.“Obviously, the research is getting solid enough about the short and long-term health risks of a population of children growing up on sodas and not getting enough dairy in their diet that organizations are taking notice and doing something about it,” Collins concludes.Lifestyle habits of girls bear out that many stop drinking milk and eating other types of dairy products in the teen years and, they typically begin to drink more colas at the same time. New research shows that one extra soft drink a day increases a child’s risk of obesity by 60%. A recent Journal of American Medical Association suggests that milk may actually play a role in preventing obesity and insulin resistance syndrome - a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.The Barber ad campaign will remind mothers that the research supports the fact that milk (with calcium and eight other essential vitamins and minerals) is a nutritional powerhouse and offers the highest concentration per serving of calcium in a form the body can absorb quickly. Barber’s is launching the campaign in regional issues of major women’s and parent magazines to educate consumers on the lifetime benefits of teaching their children to choose milk and other low-fat dairy products as healthy alternatives for drinks and snacks.The oldest dairy in Alabama, Barber Dairies, whose products include milk and cultured dairy products, enjoys the brand equity of an eighty-year old name with a 92% recognition rate in its home state. Barber’s also distributes into Georgia, Mississippi and Florida. Barber’s is serious about delivering freshness, taking every measure to avoid heat-shocking the milk at every point in the process, including direct-store-delivery, which protects taste and guarantees freshness.### |
