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Does your child's cold cereal contain more sugar than a Twinkie?
Many cereals advertised to children have an alarming amount of sugar, according to a report by the EWG.
Wed, Dec 07 2011 at 2:18 PM
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Photo: kpwerker/flickr
I remember once going on a visit to my grandparent's house. My grandmother took me grocery shopping and allowed me to pick out any cereal I wanted. With my new freedom, I headed straight to the sugary cereal and picked out the best (read: worst) one I could find. To this day I remember that first morning of sleepily walking out to the kitchen and pouring my sugary cereal. After a large bowl, I felt terrible.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the cereal. It was definitely an unusual treat for me. While my mother would buy us cereal, she didn't let us get the super-sweet versions, and often fed us eggs or oatmeal for breakfast as well. But when I got home two weeks later from that visit, I was more than happy to return to more wholesome fare.
So, I wasn't surprised when EWG (Environmental Working Group) investigated cold cereals, they found that many contain an alarming amount of sugar. For example, a one-cup serving of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks contains 20 grams of sugar. For comparison sake, a Twinkie contains 18 grams of sugar. Other top offenders include Post Golden Crisp, Quaker Oat Ohs! and Kellogg’s Apple Jacks. If you wouldn't serve your kids a Twinkie for breakfast, should you really let them pour a large bowl of one of these cereals?
One has to wonder what the effect of all of this sugar is on kid's system. How does it play into a child's performance at school, his ability to concentrate, and his general sense of well-being?
Going back to my own story from childhood, when I had the opportunity, I jumped at buying the sugary cereal. Your kids probably will, too. But in my case, I quickly realized that I didn't feel very well after eating it — but I couldn't quite seem to stop myself. I still needed some parental oversight over my eating choices. I am grateful that my mother fed us nourishing breakfasts on a consistent basis, because, if left to my own choices, I would have certainly been reaching for more sweet versions.
Thankfully, it's an easy fix for American parents. Stop buying sugary cereal and start buying less sweetened cereals (check out EWG's best cereals section on their report). Better yet, start making them a "real food" breakfast. Options include scrambled eggs and toast, oatmeal, fruit smoothies (made with yogurt and frozen fruit) and much more. When you include fiber and protein with breakfast, your kids will feel full longer and I think that we all know that the nutritional value of these homemade breakfasts beats cereals any day. (No, the low-quality vitamins sprayed all over cold cereals do not make it nutritious, in my opinion.)
What about you? What do you feed your children for breakfast?
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"One has to wonder what the effect of all of this sugar is on kid's system."
Yes, let's substitute speculation for science. Otherwise, we might have to accept an answer to this question that doesn't fit our preconceived notions. Like "zero". Or "The same effect an equivalent amount of calories from ANY food source would have."
Here's some science -- more fat cells to store the excess jolt of calories, predisposition toward adult onset diabetes, consequent health problems later in life. A calorie isn't just a calorie. It also matters how fast it is processed by the body -- the glycemic index of a food source will tell you this. Processed sugar is super fast. Proteins are very slow -- no jolt, less fat to store the excess.
Take a look at fruit juice - 30 grams - or even milk - 12 grams.
If you are worried about sugar, better not make fruit smoothies. Most of them have 30 grams or more of sugar.
I've gone with the "cereal restaurant" strategy where the children can have a small amount of sugared cereal mixed in with something healthier. When they were very young (not teens) we didn't have any "kid's cereal" except I would make baggies of the larger piece sort for airplane trips.
Do you buy any kid's cereal? Is it for you or the children? I know more adults who eat Cocoa Puffs and Sugar Smacks than kids.
When the high sugar counts in cereal began coming out in the 90s, I think some parents were caught by surprise. But I think most folks now understand that these cereals are laden with sugar. But their justification is 1) they ate them growing up and they're fine or 2) its too hard to talk their kids into the healthy stuff.
I've never understood the too hard to talk their kids into healthy stuff argument. Parents buy the food. If the sugared cereal isn't in the house, then the kids must eat the healthy stuff.
So it's no wonder that most kids exceed the "maximum discretionary caloric allowance," which is already ridiculous (a quarter of our diet can be cotton candy, according to federal guidelines--see 1:40 at http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/nations-diet-in-crisis/).