« Some Kids Cereals Are Nothing But Sugar Bombs »
Roberta Kyle, Senior Editor | Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:09AM
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Back in the day, when my kids were little, I was the kind of mom who wouldn’t let them eat Twinkies, but would always have a plastic baggie full of dry cereal with me at the playground for my toddler to munch on. Turns out that I was not so smart. According to a new study just done by the Environemental Work Group, some kid’s cereals contain more sugar than a twinkie in a one cup serving. Now that is a bit shocking, isn’t it?
The worst of the worst are Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp, and General Mills Wheaties Fuel. each of which contains more sugar than a Twinkie in a one cup serving.
Only slightly less bad are Honey Nut Cheerios, Apple Jacks, and Cap’n Crunch. Eating a cup of any one of these cereals is the same as eating three Chips Ahoy cookies in terms of sugar. Download the entire report here in pdf format.
Those of you who pay dentist bills already know why your kids should not be mainlining sugar at breakfast time, but for the rest of you. Here’s a quote from Dr. Andrew Weil.
“When I went to medical school in the 1960s, the consensus view was sugar provided ‘empty calories’ devoid of vitamins, minerals or fiber,” said health expert Dr. Andrew Weil. “Aside from that, it was not deemed harmful. But 50 years of nutrition research has confirmed that sugar is actually the single most health-destructive component of the standard American diet. The fact that a children’s breakfast cereal is 56 percent sugar by weight – and many others are not far behind – should cause national outrage.”
Cereal makers have lawyers and lobbyists working hard on keeping sugar in their products. They are more worried about their bottom lline and their shareholders than about your kids. Here’s what noted NYU nutrition professor Marion Nestle had to say:
“Cereal companies have spent fortunes on convincing parents that a kid’s breakfast means cereal, and that sugary cereals are fun, benign, and all kids will eat. The cereals on the EWG highest-sugar list are among the most profitable for their makers, who back up their investment with advertising budgets of $20 million a year or more.”
Are you angry yet? You should be. Think about joining EWG and taking action through them. At the very least, consider giving your kids plain old shredded wheat topped with a banana for breakfast instead of Captain Crunch. You’ll have healthier kids and lower dentist bills.
Reader Comments (2)
The sad thing is that almost all commercial cereals contain refined wheat and also lots of artificial flavor enhancers and preservatives, too. KIds' cereals are not only sugar bombs but long-term poison bombs as well.
My parents had a strict policy on these "sugared cereals". One box in the house per month. If we gulped it down in two days, too bad. Wait another 28 days until the next box arrives.