Posted on 12/01/2016 6:12:44 PM PST by Diago
Parents have good reason to worry about the sugar content of children’s breakfast cereals, according to an Environmental Working Group review of 84 popular brands.
Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, at nearly 56 percent sugar by weight, leads the list of the 10 worst children’s cereals, according to EWG’s analysis. In fact, a one-cup serving of the brand packs more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie, and one cup of any of the 44 other children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.
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 | 44.4% |
7.) Kellogg’s Smorz | 43.3% |
8.) Kellogg’s Apple Jacks | 42.9% |
9.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries | 42.3% |
10.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original | 41.4% |
Some cereals are better than others. Nutrition expert Marion Nestle recommends:
Among the best simple-to-prepare breakfasts for children are fresh fruit and high-fiber, lower-sugar cereals. Better yet, pair fruit with homemade oatmeal.
In response to the exploding childhood obesity epidemic and aggressive food company advertising pitches to kids, Congress formed the federal Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children to propose standards to Congress to curb marketing of kids’ foods with too much sugar, salt and fat.
But EWG has found that only one in four children’s cereals meets the government panel’s voluntary proposed guidelines, which recommend no more than 26 percent added sugar by weight. EWG has been calling for an even lower cap on the maximum amount of sugar in children’s 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.”
“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.”
“As a mom of two, I was stunned to discover just how much sugar comes in a box of children’s cereal,” said Jane Houlihan, EWG’s Senior Vice President of Research. “The bottom line: most parents would never serve dessert for breakfast, but many children’s cereals have just as much sugar, or more.”
Studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts that are high in sugar have more problems at school. They become more frustrated and have a harder time working independently than kids who eat lower-sugar breakfasts. By lunchtime they have less energy, are hungrier, show attention deficits and make more mistakes on their work.
About one in five American children is obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has reported that childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years.
“It has been said that exploding rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in today's children will lead them to be the first in American history to have shorter lifespans than their parents,” Weil said. “That tragedy strikes me as a real possibility unless parents make some dramatic changes in their children's lives.”
“Nearly 20 percent of our children and one-third of adults in this country are obese. Our children face a future of declining health, and may be the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. We must provide consumers with the information they need to make healthier choices and prevent misleading claims about the nutritional contents of food,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). “Cereal is a prime example of this—we know that children do better in school if they have breakfast. But we also know that the type of breakfast matters. And yet, as the Environment Working Group’s report shows, many children’s cereals have sugar content levels that are above 40 percent by weight. Our children deserve better, and it is critical that we take action to combat America’s obesity epidemic.” Congresswoman DeLauro serves on the appropriations subcommittee responsible for the Food and Drug Administration and agriculture, where she oversees drug and food safety.
Funny that the company was started by a ‘health nut eugenicist’.
Are we boycotting because of the health issues or their decision not to advertise on Breitbart?
Quit watching ESPN a few years ago. Don’t shop Macy’s. Don’t drink that burnt Starbucks either.
I have to cut back on the liver. Too much iron. So I just drink my leftist tears from a cup made from one of the skulls of my enemies.
I kid of course. I don't have any enemies!
For now.
Although if those snowflakes don't stop trying to hug me.....
GOOGLE this if you don’t believe me. but Mr. Kellogg invented CORN FLAKES to reduce masturbation. Can you imagine how Honey Smacks would increase this. They have come a long way in 100 years.
You can count on that.
Terrible stuff.
Trump needs to redo food stamps.
Take off soft drinks (waaaaay too much spent on those) and these sugary children targeting boxes of crap.
MAGA.
It's a leftist thing, isn't it?
Guns kill people.
SUV's run amok.
Cereals with sugar make people fat.
/s
Kellogg’s has been on my ban list for years due to their support for LBGTWHATEVERS and has been double banned for being Trump haters.
Quaker Oats also hates Trump.
Post started the ban list over two decades ago for sorry customer service.
Several times a day I hear PSA’s on the radio telling me that 1 in 4 children go in America go to bed hungry each night.
If that is true, how can we possibly have a childhood obesity epidemic?
One Liberal group or the other is lying.
Frosted Flakes used to be called Sugar Frosted Flakes.
Kellogg's Sugar Corn Pops...Sugar Pops are tops!
Kellogg's Sugar Frostged Flakes are great!!
How about General Mills’ Sugar Jets? They give you so much energy that they make you feel like you’re jet-propelled!
That’s right! And they were called Sugar Pops, not Corn Pops! (One of my favorites when I was a kid).
I make my own granola when I must have cereal, or with my plain Greek yogurt and fruit. Old fashioned oats, lots of nuts and seeds, coconut oil, a little brown sugar, a little pure maple syrup. Bake it at a low heat. Fantastic! Or steel cut oats with maple syrup and coconut oil. So good! I never buy that junky Kellogg’s crap.
Guess they changed the name, but not the recipe.
I buy about one box a year. No wonder it takes so good!
If they were good enough for Quick Draw McGraw, they were good enough for this 8 year old back in '59:
I just realized the cereal has been named “Honey Smacks” (about 31 years) the same amount of time it was named “Sugar Smacks” (about 32 years). Talk about making you feel old!
Thank you.
It is an easy list of companies, individual jerks, mediots and coalitions to avoid supporting.
We have a few good RNs in our family. They are amazed at the number of what they label as large bad/dangerous processed food providers on that list. I tell them it is probably not due to coincidences.
It started with their political stances against Trump and his supporters. Macy’s was the first on my list. My list has grown during the election and post election as liberal haters of America have come unhinged against Trump/Pence/us.
Then, the possible health issues of the processed food produced by the vile anti Trump Food processors has emerged.
The NFL and its backing of a Muslim soso QB, who hates America.
Of course, the long time anti America behaviors of ABCNNBCBS and Faux news this presidential primary and election.
Last but not least the vile attacks on Trump/Pence/us by Follywood and other creeps in the entertainment business.
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