for eMaxHealthIf you want to feed your child a healthy breakfast cereal avoid the ones that are marketed to the younger set. Even the kid cereals with healthy marketing such as low fat or low sugar aren't as healthy as the ones the parents choose for themselves.
In a recent article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association researchers looked at 161 cereals. 46 of those cereals are marketed to the junior set. The researchers classified children's cereals as those that are clearly marked as which on their web site or offered toys or games inside.
The cereals that are for children had more sugar, sodium, carbohydrate and calories per gram than non-children's cereals, and less protein and fiber. Sugar made up one-third of the weight of the average children cereal. When it came to meeting the nutritional standards for foods that are sold in schools only 34 percent of kids cereal made the grade compared to 56 percent of cereals not marketed for children.
A healthy cereal contains 4 grams of sugar per serving and 4 grams of fiber.
The easiest way to make sure the cereals that your children are eating are healthy is to ban children's cereals from your home. Teaching children from an early age that healthy choices are the way to go will help them to achieve healthier diet lifestyles.
"My advice to parents of young children is you've got to just make a decision and stick with it because if you give in once, you're going to regret it. It's just going to make your kid nag you even more," says Dr. Marlene B. Schwartz of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
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