BRFSS Brief Number 0906, Milk Consumption New York State Adults 2007

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an annual statewide telephone survey of adults developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administered by the New York State Department of Health. The BRFSS is designed to provide information on behaviors, risk factors, and utilization of preventive services related to the leading causes of chronic and infectious diseases, disability, injury, and death among the noninstitutionalized, civilian population aged 18 years and older.

Introduction

Consuming a diet high in saturated fat is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in New York State and a significant focus of the New York State Department of Health Prevention Agenda Towards the Healthiest State.1 Milk is the largest source of saturated fat in children's diets and the third largest source in adults' diets. Switching from whole to fat-free/skim milk can contribute to adults being able to meet United States Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations of consuming 10 percent or less of total calories from saturated fat and no more than 30 percent of total calories from all fats.2 Consuming low-fat milk and other low-fat dairy products is a component of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan.3

BRFSS Questions

What type of milk do you usually drink or put on your cereal?

  1. whole (regular)
  2. 2% milk (reduced fat)
  3. 1% milk (low fat)
  4. skim milk (fat free)

Milk consumption among New York State adults, by BRFSS survey years

Type of Milk 2003 2005 2007
%* 95% CI* % 95% CI % 95% CI
Whole milk 27.0 25.4 28.6 21.5 19.7 23.3 21.3 19.6 23.0
2% milk 27.8 26.3 29.3 24.9 23.1 26.7 25.0 23.5 26.5
1% milk 15.1 14.0 16.2 16.7 15.2 18.2 17.3 16.0 18.6
Skim milk 20.5 19.2 21.8 25.0 23.2 26.8 23.7 22.2 25.2
No milk 9.5 8.6 10.4 12.0 10.7 13.3 12.7 11.5 13.9
  • * % = weighted percentage; CI = confidence interval.

Note: Percentages are age-adjusted to 2000 US census population.

Milk consumption among New York State adults: 2007 BRFSS

Population Characteristics Whole (regular) 2% milk (reduced fat) 1% milk (low fat) Skim milk (fat free) Don't drink milk
%a 95% CIa % 95% CI % 95% CI % 95% CI % 95% CI
New York State (NYS) 20.9 19.3-22.6 25.2 23.7-26.7 17.3 16.1-18.6 23.8 22.4-25.2 12.8 11.7-14.0
Sex
Male 25.2 22.6-28.0 24.7 22.4-27.1 15.2 13.4-17.3 21.5 19.4-23.8 13.4 11.6-15.4
Female 17.1 15.3-19.0 25.6 23.8-27.6 19.2 17.6-20.9 25.9 24.1-27.7 12.2 10.9-13.7
Age (years)
18-24 33.6 26.7-41.3 22.1 16.7-28.7 14.8 10.3-20.8 17.4 12.6-23.5 12.0 7.9-18.0
25-34 27.5 22.8-32.8 22.8 18.7-27.4 14.3 11.3-18.0 25.1 21.0-29.6 10.3 7.6-14.0
35-44 21.3 18.1-24.9 24.3 21.3-27.7 19.0 16.3-22.1 22.6 19.6-25.8 12.8 10.4-15.7
45-54 17.8 15.3-20.7 28.3 25.5-31.3 16.8 14.6-19.2 23.7 21.1-26.4 13.5 11.4-15.9
55-64 15.8 13.2-18.7 26.6 23.7-29.7 19.0 16.4-22.0 23.0 20.4-26.0 15.6 13.3-18.2
≥65 13.0 11.0-15.4 26.0 23.5-28.7 19.4 17.3-21.8 29.1 26.6-31.8 12.5 10.7-14.5
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 14.3 13.0-15.7 27.0 25.4-28.6 19.8 18.4-21.2 28.1 26.6-29.7 10.8 9.8-11.9
Black, non-Hispanic 29.5 24.4-35.2 25.3 20.5-30.7 13.2 10.0-17.4 11.5 8.4-15.7 20.5 16.1-25.7
Hispanic 35.3 29.5-41.7 18.9 14.7-23.8 15.1 11.4-19.7 16.9 13.0-21.6 13.9 10.3-18.4
Other, non-Hispanic 30.3 23.3-38.4 23.5 18.1-30.0 10.7 7.2-15.7 22.3 16.4-29.6 13.2 9.4-18.2
Annual household income
<$15,000 34.8 28.0-42.2 23.4 19.0-28.6 13.1 9.6-17.7 15.0 10.7-20.5 13.7 9.4-19.6
$15,000-$24,999 30.7 25.6-36.2 24.3 20.6-28.3 13.5 10.4-17.5 18.1 14.6-22.1 13.5 10.5-17.2
$25,000-$34,999 23.1 18.2-28.9 28.2 23.7-33.3 15.7 12.5-19.6 18.3 14.9-22.4 14.7 10.6-19.9
$35,000-$49,999 17.5 13.9-21.9 31.3 26.9-36.1 16.6 13.4-20.3 21.8 18.2-25.8 12.9 9.9-16.5
≥$50,000 14.9 13.0-16.9 23.6 21.5-25.8 20.4 18.5-22.5 28.9 26.8-31.2 12.2 10.7-13.9
Missingb 24.7 19.8-30.3 24.2 20.1-28.8 15.5 12.4-19.2 23.8 19.8-28.3 11.8 9.1-15.2
Education
Less than high school 46.2 39.5-52.9 18.3 14.5-23.0 10.2 7.1-14.4 12.3 8.6-17.4 13.0 9.4-17.6
High school or GED 22.4 19.4-25.6 32.2 29.2-35.3 16.0 13.8-18.5 18.2 15.9-20.7 11.3 9.2-13.8
Some post-high school 19.7 16.8-23.1 29.3 26.1-32.7 16.7 14.4-19.2 21.1 18.5-24.0 13.2 11.0-15.9
College graduate 13.6 11.6-15.7 19.5 17.5-21.6 20.7 18.6-22.9 33.0 30.6-35.5 13.3 11.7-15.1
Weight Status
Obesec 18.2 15.3-21.5 26.7 24.0-29.7 20.1 17.6-22.9 22.6 20.0-25.5 12.4 10.2-14.9
Overweightd 18.6 16.1-21.4 26.4 23.8-29.0 17.5 15.4-19.8 24.5 22.2-26.9 13.1 11.1-15.3
Neither overweight nor obesee 25.3 22.5-28.3 23.2 20.8-25.8 15.6 13.7-17.7 23.4 21.1-25.8 12.6 10.9-14.5
Region
New York City (NYC) 29.9 26.5-33.6 16.8 14.6-19.4 16.0 13.9-18.4 20.4 17.8-23.3 16.8 14.4-19.5
NYS exclusive of NYC 16.6 15.0-18.2 29.2 27.4-31.0 18.0 16.5-19.6 25.4 23.8-27.1 10.8 9.7-12.1
  1. % = weighted percentage; CI = confidence interval
  2. "Missing" category included because more than 10% of the sample did not report income.
  3. Obese, BMI ≥ 30.0.
  4. Overweight, 25.0 ≤ BMI < 30.0.
  5. Neither overweight nor obese, BMI < 25.0.

References

  1. New York State Department of Health Prevention Agenda Towards the Healthiest State.
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. 6th ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 2005.
  3. Sacks FM, Svetkey LP, Vollmer WM, Appel LF, Bray, GA, Harsha D, Obarzanek E, Conlin PR, Miller ER, Simons- Morton DG, Karanja N, Lin P-H for the DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. New England Journal of Medicine 2001; 344:3-10.

Copies may be obtained by contacting:

  • BRFSS Coordinator
    New York State Department of Health
    Bureau of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance
    Empire State Plaza, Rm. 565, Corning Tower
    Albany, NY 12237-0679
  • Or by phone or electronic mail: