Feeding your kids Kellogg’s cereal for breakfast? May be worse than all the Halloween candy they could possibly consume.
Kellogg’s cereal vs. Halloween candy
It’s the time of year when kids’ minds turn to costumes and
candy. As a dentist I accept that kids
are going to indulge to some extent during the Halloween season. While I could make this a post about warning
you about watching how much your kids and you eat, I would rather talk about a
much more nefarious source of sugar; Kellogg’s
cereal. Eating candy for a few days
out of the year is nothing compared to what some kids are consuming every day
to start their day. Here is a recent
study published by Environmental Working Group looking at 84 popular brands of
cereal. Kellogg has 50% of the top 10
cereals in terms of sugar content. No.1
is Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, with 55.6 percent sugar by weight. Yes 55% of that cereal your kid or maybe you
eat for breakfast is sugar. WOW! If you eat just one serving that is more sugar
than a Twinkie. One serving is one
cup. Have you ever poured a cup of cereal
into a bowl? I doubt many people eat just
one cup of cereal, as a bowl holds nearly 4 cups. Letting your kids have some candy for Halloween is one thing, but please rethink their breakfast if they are eating one of these Kellogg cereals.
candy. As a dentist I accept that kids
are going to indulge to some extent during the Halloween season. While I could make this a post about warning
you about watching how much your kids and you eat, I would rather talk about a
much more nefarious source of sugar; Kellogg’s
cereal. Eating candy for a few days
out of the year is nothing compared to what some kids are consuming every day
to start their day. Here is a recent
study published by Environmental Working Group looking at 84 popular brands of
cereal. Kellogg has 50% of the top 10
cereals in terms of sugar content. No.1
is Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, with 55.6 percent sugar by weight. Yes 55% of that cereal your kid or maybe you
eat for breakfast is sugar. WOW! If you eat just one serving that is more sugar
than a Twinkie. One serving is one
cup. Have you ever poured a cup of cereal
into a bowl? I doubt many people eat just
one cup of cereal, as a bowl holds nearly 4 cups. Letting your kids have some candy for Halloween is one thing, but please rethink their breakfast if they are eating one of these Kellogg cereals.
“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.”
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 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,” said noted NYU nutrition professor Marion Nestle. “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. No
public health agency has anywhere near the education budget equivalent to that
spent on a single cereal. Kids should not be eating sugar for breakfast. They
should be eating real food.”
|
10
Worst Children’s Cereals Based on percent sugar by weight |
|
|
1.) Kellogg’s Honey Smacks
|
55.6%
|
|
2.) Post Golden Crisp
|
51.9%
|
|
3.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow
|
48.3%
|
|
4.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries
|
46.9%
|
|
5.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original
|
44.4%
|
|
6.) Quaker Oats Oh!s
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44.4%
|
|
7.) Kellogg’s Smorz
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43.3%
|
|
8.) Kellogg’s Apple Jacks
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42.9%
|
|
9.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries
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42.3%
|
|
10.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original
|
41.4%
|
Update – I recently discovered cereal in the UK is even worse! Again Kellogg is mentioned
Bryan Bauer, DDS, FAGD
630-665-5550
Wheaton General and Cosmetic Dentists
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