@e528fa39 There was a lot of "kids must drink milk or their bones will break!" stuff going on but I am unsure if this was common in Ireland. Also wonder if it was a signifier of economic stability (mom grew up in WWII Belfast with a single mom, her dad died very young). No idea is it's common in Ireland though. 

 @63e41be8 Irish Americans are the ones that have mentioned it, but someone in Australia said they did this too 

 @e528fa39 So a little googling suggests that yes, this is an Irish thing, which I did not know. Now wondering if it's a result of a lot of food insecurity in relatively recent history (it's gross, but it is nutritionally dense). Not that lots of other countries have had their own food issues though.

Weird.