New Zealand health professionals have applauded the move to bring back free milk for school children.
The NZ College of Public Health Medicine said a "significant number'' of children are living in circumstances where their nutritional needs are not being met.
Dr Julia Peters, President of the College, said that the Fonterra `milk in schools programme' is a step in the right direction.
She said: "We applaud this move by Fonterra. It's heartening to see a major corporate supporting the health needs of the most vulnerable members of society, our children.
"It is a constructive response to recent criticism that the price of milk has put it out of reach of a lot of New Zealanders.
"Simple initiatives such as this rolled out at a national level will help to promote the health and wellbeing of our children, delivering better health outcomes for future generations.''
The scheme will be trialled at 110 Northland primary schools next year.
Fonterra says it will refrigerate the milk to ensure pupils don't have to drink warm milk.
Dr Peters added: "The College of Public Health Medicine supports and encourages the development of programmes such as this that contribute to positive changes in our population's health.''
