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More than 150 MPs have swapped the Commons for the classroom to help thousands of children from Inverness to St Ives celebrate school milk by acting as milk monitor for the day.

MPs including Yvette Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford and Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities and Chris Grayling, MP for Epsom and Ewell and Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, handed out milk to children at their local primary and nursery schools between 26th September and 30th November.

The visits were organised by Cool Milk to help raise awareness of the importance of the nursery milk scheme and to celebrate World School Milk Day 2012 (26th September).

Grayling said: “For children to drink milk regularly is really important, essential nutrition for growing up. That’s why it is important to support World School Milk Day. I am delighted that the Government provides support to enable schools to serve milk to pupils.”

In the UK an estimated 1.5 million children receive free milk every day, with about 40% supplied by intermediaries or through teaching staff making arrangements with local retailers.

World School Milk Day is organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to promote the importance of drinking milk at school to children in a fun and educational way. In the UK World School Milk Day is funded by Cool Milk, one of the country’s leading school milk suppliers.

Dr Hilary Jones, GP, Breakfast TV health editor and medical adviser to Cool Milk, said: “Milk is a very important part of overall nutrition for children providing a wide variety of minerals, vitamins and protein and other nutrients to keep them healthy.

“It is one of the most nutritionally complete foods available. As well as promoting good health, milk can help prevent dehydration and gives an energy boost in a way that does not harm teeth, aiding concentration, memory and creativity in class.”

Cool Milk’s managing director John Sedgwick explained: “Cool Milk has funded World School Milk Day in the UK for the past eight years and we were delighted so many MPs took part in this year’s celebrations.

“Last year 88 MPs volunteered to act as milk monitors for the day at their local school or nursery but this year 153 have given up their time to celebrate school milk which demonstrates how vitally important the scheme is.”

To see photos of the visits and read comments from the MPs who took part in World School Milk Day 2012, visit www.worldschoolmilkday.co.uk.