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Monday, May 12, 2008

Popular Cereals Are Bad..Bad..Bad

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals. It is a chance to start anew every day, loading up on the nutrients and vitamins I need to get through my day and feel great. If only everyone felt the same way, we could probably do away with a lot of the grumpiness that seems to permeate the AM hours.

Unfortunately, it starts at a young age. If you’ve ever taken a stroll down the cereal aisle at your local super market, you’ve no doubt seen what I’ve seen and I hope you’re as worried about it as I am.

The foods we give to our children are not just chock full of sugar and empty calories; they’ve got almost nothing else in them. I have read reports recently pinpointing kid’s cereals – those that have characters on the box, toys inside, or that self-admittedly market to kids on their websites – as having more sugar, carbs, calories, and sodium per gram than adult cereals with less fiber and protein. It isn’t just more of these things, it is much more with as much as one-third of the weight in any given children’s cereal made up of sugar.

What’s the Big Deal about Breakfast?

Of course, foods like this are bad for you no matter when you eat them, but what is the big deal about the first meal of the day? For starters, breakfast is vital in managing appetite and energy metabolism as well as insulin resistance issues. Basically, by eating a balanced breakfast every day, children can maintain their weight, reduce the risk of diabetes, and utilize energy more efficiently, not to mention result in more balanced moods.

Obesity in American children is a huge problem, with foods like this contributing to the tripling of obesity cases in adolescents in the last 20 years and as many as 16% of all children now being overweight. Add on to the obvious health risks the major emotional issues that develop in children who struggle with obesity – low self esteem, depression, and loneliness – and you have a major health concern.

What Your Children are Eating

The problem is not just a matter of a little too much sugar in their cereal – certain age groups, such as girls between age 9 and 13 are getting 92 percent of their daily sugar intake in one serving of those breakfast cereals. That’s only one meal and that’s only one serving – children are getting multiple servings and then there’s the rest of the junk they eat all day.

What to Do

The problem many parents have is that they think it is a matter of all or nothing. They think they need to cut out all of the sugar sources and replace their children’s breakfasts with nothing but non-sugar sources. This can be very hard, especially with children who are so used to having sugar in their cereals and diet all the time.

Moderation is the key though, not eliminating sugar entirely, but finding ways to replace it with other sources such as fruit or honey and getting your children used to ingesting something on the level of about 5 pounds of sugar a year instead of the usual 175.

Another important step is to cut out all of the excess grains in your children’s breakfasts. The high intake of carbohydrates in the morning can result in a large number of issues, largely because of how quickly they break down sugar and the affect they have on insulin supply and effectiveness in the body.

Good alternatives for a healthy breakfast can include everything from fresh vegetable juice (with pulp intact), to fruits and yogurts. The best breakfast is one that contains minimal added sugar, plenty of vitamins and nutrients, and a balance of carbohydrates and protein.

Loading your children up with a massive dosage of sugar first thing in the morning is not only bad for their health, it is dangerous in the long term. Children’s cereals are downright awful and despite their convenience must be avoided at all costs, lest your children pay in the long term with their health.

Find creative ways to serve your kids oatmeal and egg whites and you’ll be ahead of 99.9% of the parents out there.  grin


Caroline Cardenas
Caroline Cardenas Signature



A discussion thread on this article has been created in the forums.  You can access it here:
http://cureyourbody.com/forums/viewthread/163/

A discussion thread on this article has been created in the forums. You can discuss this article here: http://www.cureyourbody.com/forums/viewthread/164


breakfast, obesity, child obesity,


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