All Sugared Up: The Best And Worst Breakfast Cereals For Little ones

This week the Environmental Doing work Group (EWG) released the outcomes of its most latest examination of above 1500 adult and kid cereals. The verdict? Kids’ cereal is sugarier than it was just a couple of many years in the past. Of the 1,556 cereals analyzed, 181 have been marketed for kids and “prone to intense sweetening.” On average, children’s cereals contained forty% much more sugar than adults’ cereals. And the EWG points out, little ones are not probably to consume just one particular serving for breakfast. “Because the ‘serving’ dimension offered on the label does not reflect what Americans in fact eat,” they write, “people who eat sweetened cereal each day can wind up with a lot increased sugar intakes.”

Not surprisingly, almost all of the children’s cereals contained additional sugar, and many contained a third of the volume of sugar a child should be consuming in an entire day.

Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal. (Photograph credit: Wikipedia)

“When you exclude clearly sugar-hefty meals like candy, cookies, ice cream, soft and fruit drinks, breakfast cereals are the single biggest supply of extra sugars in the diets of youngsters underneath the age of eight,” explained nutritionist Dawn Undurraga, who coauthored the new report, Children’s Cereals: Sugar by the Pound.  “Cereals that pack in as significantly sugar as junk foods must not be considered portion of a healthful breakfast or diet. Children presently eat two to 3 times the sum of sugar professionals advise.”

Of the 181 children’s cereals the EWG tested, just 10 met their criteria for “low sugar.”

“We want to get genuine about foods in this nation, and that begins with utilizing intelligent tools like this evaluation from EWG,” Laurie David, producer of the documentary FED UP. ”It’s time to rethink breakfast so that we do not send our youngsters off to commence their day previously in excess of the day-to-day highest sum of sugar they can securely consume.” A lot of of the cereals have in a single serving as significantly as 3 Chips Ahoy! cookies. And if little ones are eating a couple of serving of cereal for breakfast, they’re leaving for college with a lot of sugar in their techniques.

What can you do? Make positive you look at what a serving dimension really is, and choose if it’s reasonable. And don’t be swayed by clever packaging: Claims of high vitamin and nutrient articles can usually distract from substantial sugar articles.

“Parents read nutrition claims on the side of the cereal box and believe they are feeding nutritious food to their kids,” stated Renee Sharp, EWG’s Analysis Director. “That’s why the federal government and foods manufacturers need to hear from us. We hope the report will empower Americans to use their voices and acquiring bucks to demand far better alternatives and a limit on how significantly sugar is extra to food items that are marketed as ‘healthy.’”

The EWG’s “Hall of Shame” cereals are individuals that are more than 50% by bodyweight. They are:

• Kellogg’s Honey Smacks


• Malt-O-Meal Golden Puffs


• Mom’s Greatest Cereals Honey-Ful Wheat


• Malt-O-Meal Berry Colossal Crunch with Marshmallows


• Submit Golden Crisp


• Grace Quick Green Banana Porridge


• Blanchard &amp Blanchard Granola


• Lieber’s Cocoa Frosted Flakes


• Lieber’s Honey Ringee Os


• Meals Lion Sugar Frosted Wheat Puffs


• Krasdale Fruity Circles


• Safeway Kitchens Silly Circles

The Lowest-Sugar Cereals are:

• Kellogg’s Rice Crispies, Gluten-Free of charge


• General Mills Cheerios


• Submit 123 Sesame Street, C is for Cereal


• Kellogg’s Corn Flakes


• Kellogg’s Rice Crispies


• Kellogg’s Crispex Cereal

The EWG recommends purchasing cereals with no a lot more than four grams of sugar per serving, or providing little ones scorching cereals and fresh fruit. See far more of the EWG Recommendations for parents, policy makers, and companies.

Follow me @alicewalton or discover me on Facebook.

All Sugared Up: The Best And Worst Breakfast Cereals For Little ones

Fruit juice and cereals push youngsters over sugar limits

For ladies below 10, 28 per cent of added sugar came from drinks, such as 12 per cent from fruit juice, according to the National Diet plan and Nutrition Survey, which covers the 4 many years from 2008 to 2012.

As young children received older, the proportions rose nonetheless more, to 42 per cent for boys, and 38 per cent for girls, the figures show, with soft drinks responsible for most of the added sugar.

Public health officials stated young children ought to be allowed fruit juice – but that it ought to be limited to a single drink per day, with a meal.

Overall health campaigners explained a lot of parents did not realise how much sugar is contained in fruit jucies and soft drinks and referred to as for clearer labelling on goods to tackle Britain’s obesity timebomb.

Nutritionist Kawther Hashem from Action on Sugar stated, “The large amount of sugar additional to foods and drink products which includes fruit juice, soft drinks and breakfast cereals offers us calories with no nutritional value.”

“The government must stop acting in the greatest interests of the food and drink industry rather than men and women, and take action on sugar now.”

The report mentioned cereals and cereal items have been the 2nd main contributor to sugar in children’s diets.

The class – covering breakfast cereals and bars, as effectively as biscuits and cakes – was responsible for all around a single quarter of daily added sugars, the report identified.

The nationwide survey, based on in-depth study involving 1,000 people a 12 months, discovered minor alter in Britain’s consuming habits, with most folks failing to meet any of the nationwide tips on a healthful diet program.

All age groups exceeded suggestions that average saturated body fat consumption must not exceeed 11 per cent of foods energy, with an typical of twelve.6 per cent for grownups.

Salt intake was one.2g a day greater than the suggested greatest everyday restrict of 6g/day.

Typical salt consumption in kids aged four to 18 years also exceeded recommendations for every age group except for children aged seven to ten many years.

In spite of considerably publicised guidelines advising the public to consume 5-a-day fruit and veg, on common, children are consuming far much less, the analysis identified.

Just 10 per cent of boys and 7 per cent of girls aged amongst 11 to 18 met the suggestions. On average boys had 3 portions a day, although girls had two.7 portions, the statistics show.

Grownups fared better.

Individuals aged 19 to 64 many years consumed an average of 4.1 portions per day whilst older grownups are consuming the most fruit and greens, the information displays, with an common of 4.six portions a day amid grownups aged 65 and above.

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Overall health England, stated: “The new NDNS information highlights that kids are consuming also several sugary drinks. The greatest drinks for school-aged kids are water and reduced fat milk. Fruit juice is also a excellent decision as it can be incorporated as one particular of your 5 portions of fruit and veggies per day. Nevertheless it must only be drunk when a day and with a meal due to the fact it can be higher in sugar and can cause tooth decay.”

She said the information covering four years showed little alter over the time period.

Dr Tedstone said: “The findings, from the 4 years covered by the survey, confirm that eating routines do not modify quickly. It is clear that we all need to function with each other to support individuals boost their diet programs.”

Fruit juice and cereals push youngsters over sugar limits