SCHOOLS are to be banned from serving whole milk to children, as part of the offensive against obesity.

From September, all state schools in England must offer only semi-skimmed or skimmed milk to pupils aged 3 to 18. The ruling will apply to milk served during school lunches and at break times, and to cartons sold in vending machines.

The ban on whole milk, approved by the Food Standards Agency, was included in the nutritional standards for schools announced by Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, last week. The focus at the time was the ban on junk food in schools, but The Times has learnt that the ban is to extend to whole milk. Whole milk contains about 3 to 3.5 per cent fat, semi-skimmed 1.5 to 1.8 per cent fat and skimmed less than 0.5 per cent.

Mr Johnson will almost certainly face demands for a justification of the ban on whole milk during education questions in the Commons today. Dairy UK, which represents milk processors, immediately queried the decision and industry chiefs have asked Mr Johnson to think again.

The National Farmers’ Union said that it was a matter for dairy processors and did not affect farmers. But Derek Mead, a dairy farmer for 50 years, and the Somerset delegate on the NFU council, was outraged. “I find it totally unacceptable that full milk is now being linked with junk food,” he said. “Most people after the war grew up on a third of a pint a day and children seemed very healthy then and there was no obesity crisis. I really don’t know what the gain is in banning whole milk in schools. Many farmers will wish to challenge this decision.”

Jim Paice, Conservative farming spokesman, said: “I am all in favour of children having a healthy diet, but whole milk is 97 per cent fat-free. To remove this option for children seems to me to be an unnecessary further intervention by the state.”

Roger Williams, the Liberal Democrats’ rural affairs spokesman, said: “I will question the logic of this decision. Full milk is a well-balanced food and children should have the opportunity to choose for themselves between full, semi-skimmed or skimmed. I regret that full milk is being banned in schools. Children should be encouraged to take responsibility for their choices.”

Jim Begg, chief excutive of Dairy UK, believes that the move towards semi-skimmed and skimmed milk is being driven by consumers concerned about healthy living.

He said that many parents preferred to give their children semi-skimmed milk, which is now the top-selling milk. The 3,711 million litres of semi-skimmed milk consumed a year make up 58 per cent of the market. Ten years ago sales were 3,269 million litres a year, making up 40 per cent of the market.

The ban on whole milk in schools may come at a price. Under the EU’s school milk programme, it is subsidised in England to the tune of £4.4 million a year, and the Government pays a top-up of £1.1 million.

The bulk of the subsidised school milk is whole milk, which is subsidised at 4.6p per 250ml carton, compared with the 3.75p for semi-skimmed milk. Skimmed milk qualifies for no subsidy at all.

Ministers at the Departments for Education, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are now discussing whether to approach Brussels for permission to switch the whole-milk subsidy to skimmed milk.

Despite the Government’s drive to reduce obesity, and efforts by companies to cut levels of salt, fat and sugar in food, a new study shows that the nation is getting even fatter. In only a year the proportion of boys aged 11-15 who are obese or overweight has risen from 26.9 per cent to 36.4 per cent, while the number of overweight girls has gone up from 29.3 per cent to 45.6 per cent.

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