*Editor's note on July 26: Details on the packaging of milk in the past have been updated with feedback from a reader.

Back in the day, when many of Singapore's children were underweight, we had the School Milk Scheme to provide them with better nourishment.

The scheme was introduced by the government in 1974 to improve the nutritional intake of children, and to inculcate in them good nutritional habits.

Under this scheme, normal students could buy milk at discounted prices, while underweight children and those from needy families would receive milk free of charge.

The School Milk Scheme back then was well-known for the iconic triangular milk packets that children got.

In the late 1950s, Magnolia started using Tetra Pak packages which had a unique pyramid shape.

It looked like this:

The packaging would be replaced by the more familiar rectangular shaped pack in later years.

Milk Scheme's origins

Even though the scheme was officially implemented by the Singapore government in 1974, its origins actually date all the way back to the colonial era in 1936, when it was a personal project by a man named J.W. Scharf. 

Scharf was a medical health officer working for the colonial government's health department. He noticed that undernourished kids in Singapore could potentially reap various health benefits from drinking milk.

With the help of a teacher, Scharf started a pilot project at Pasir Panjang Boys' School. Undernourished students would be given a glass of milk in the morning before classes or during recess.

This initiative expanded after the Education Board saw the benefits of feeding milk to children.

Later on, the United Nations also provided Singapore's undernourished children with free milk up to the 1970s, before the School Milk Scheme was eventually implemented.

Here are some pictures of milk being distributed at a school during the 1950s:

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The School Milk Scheme was discontinued in 1988, due to high milk consumption's link to obesity among schoolchildren. Also, in the 1980s Singapore's living standards had climbed to a level where obesity levels among children had increased, and fewer were underweight.

Top image from NAS. 

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