Are your kids eating cereals that are more than half sugar? A new Consumer Reports (CR) review of popular children’ cereals finds 11 of them have as much sugar as a glazed donut.
Interestingly (and quite disturbing, IMO), some of the brands have more sugar and sodium when they are sold in the U.S. than they do when they are sold in other countries – the same brands! Why is that?
CR found two cereals – Kellogg’s Honey Smacks and Post Golden Crisp – are more than 50 percent sugar (by weight) and nine are at least 40 percent sugar.
Top Scores
CR gave “Very Good” marks to 4 cereals:
The review shows Cheerios, Kix, Honey Nut Cheerios, and Life all have relatively lower sugar and higher dietary fiber – the two categories CR considers most important. Cheerios tops the list with only 1 gram of sugar and 3 grams of fiber per serving.
But 23 of the top 27 cereals marketed to children rated only Good or Fair for nutrition. Here’s the breakdown from CR:
Photo and Chart Credits: Consumer Reports
surprising? not at all.
I cant do sugar as a grown woman
because it goes from my lips to my hips (to be trite but true…)
even the cheerios.
that said I do let my daughter eat it
but dont offer it all that often…she needs to ASK for it.
My daughter eats cereal because it is sweet. And plain Cheerios she would not eat at all. By giving children cereal in the morning (and they of course choose the sweet kind) we are planting bad eating habits. Parents should be aware – thank you for this article.
Amazing isn’t it? With your information, parents can make an informed choice.
If the child won’t eat anything else, you could taper down the sugar content, or go with the best ones and control the sugar by adding a little on your own.
Thanks for the post
I just linked to your post at http://pikespeakhealth.freedomblogging.com/
It’s our Colorado Springs newspaper health blog.
Thanks again for the info
[...] Some children’s cereals are more than half sugar [...]
I can see all the sugar because when the cereal is gone the bottom of the bag is full of nothing but sugar! I’ve been known to give my son a bag of 100 cal cookies and a glass of milk on the trip to school because he will get up late and I want him to have something in is stomach. I’ve had people berate me for this, but my response has always been “what’s the difference between that and a bowl of say, cookie crisps”? I know it’s not very healthy so if he’s running late, I try to give him some bacon instead of the cookies, that way he’s at least getting protein (and hopefully that lasts longer) instead of all the sugar.
I am still a huge cereal fan and am glad to find out that my honey nut cheerios are a healthier option! I remember when I was in middle school being on a cereal only binge-of course I was loading up on captain crunch, fruity pebbles, fruit loops, and cocoa pebbles-all the bad ones!
A friend of mine takes plain cheerios and mixes them with a more sugary cheerio in a big tupperware container (ratio 3:1) so that her kids will eat the cereal and will still have a little bit of sweetness.
From my perspective, cereal is all sugar because the grains in the cereal act exactly like sugar.
The amount of sugar our kids are eating is astounding and we need to find other foods for them to eat in the morning.
You’re so right, Dr. Scott – the amount of sugar our kids eat is truly frightening!