What Types Of Cereals Should Be Banned From Kids?

According to a new analysis by Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, the breakfast cereals meant for children are less healthy than cereals for adults, and worst still, those that are ‘marketed the most aggressively to kids’ have the worst nutritional quality.

Through the study of 161 brands of cereals, the researchers published their report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association indicating that the health claims by the cereal producers were often misleading. For instance, cereals sold as ‘low fat’ or ‘low sugar’ did not have low calories, and those brands sold as ‘whole grain’ though had more fiber, they also had as much salt, sugar, and fat as any other brands and had the same calorie content.

They also noted that children are often encouraged by both the food industry and public health authorities to eat breakfast, especially ready-to-eat cereals.

With an aim to comparing the nutritional quality of cereals targeted for children and those for adults, the researchers screened 161 brands of cereals, 46 percent of which were meant for kids. To be qualified in the study, the particular brand of cereal should have a character on the box, toys or games inside, or the company’s web site listed that brand as a children’s cereal.

The research team found that children’s cereals in fact had more sugar, sodium, carbohydrate and calories per gram than non-children’s cereals, and less protein and fiber, too. Meanwhile on average, more than one-third of the weight of children’s cereals consisted of sugar, comparing to less than one-quarter of the adult cereals.

While 56 percent of the non-children’s cereals met nutrition standards for foods sold in school, only 34 percent of the kid’s cereals did.

The growing number of overweight and obese kids would definitely worry their parents because the extra weight in these kids may just make them the possible candidates for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and many other sicknesses, as they grow older.

The advice from the researchers is that parents hoping to choose healthy cereals for their kids should search for those containing 4 or less grams of sugar per serving (about 1 teaspoon), at least 4 grams of fiber per bowl of cereal. Most importantly, once the parents decide to ban the heavily marketed cereals from their kids should stick to their decision. If they ever give in once, they are going to make their kid nag them even more.

People Are Abandoning Their Healthy Diet!

Mediterranean diet, with its emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables, has followers all over the world. It has been recommended and praised by health experts as one healthy diet that will keep people from being overweight, healthy and long living. As we know, overweight is a risk factor for many diseases like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), etc.

However, it seems that its popularity was dropping lately in some Mediterranean countries including Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Instead, the people in these regions are now in favor of food that has too much fat, salt and sugar. This is the latest warning issued by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), a United Nation body on July 29, 2008.

Growing affluence had altered the way people eat in Southern Europe, North Africa and the Near East. They had switched from their traditional diet, which is light on animal products to more meat and fatty foods. In other words, what they are eating now is just too fat, too salty and too sweet.

Because of higher calorie intake and less physical activities, the people in Greece have now the highest average body mass index and highest prevalence of overweight and obesity among the EU (European Union) member countries. In fact, 3 quarters of the Greek population are overweight or obese. Meanwhile, there is more than half of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese populations are overweight.

In the Near North-East Africa region, there is a significant increase in the overall calories and glycemic load of the diets as well. In general, people with a high glycemic index are prone to get health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.

According to the survey conducted on the 15 EU nations, citizens across the EU were generally ignoring the recommendations made by both the FAO and the WHO (World Health Organization) regarding the calorie intake. Statistics showed that the calorie intake for people in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta have increased by 30 percent.

Higher income is probably the only reason for people to change their eating habits. Things like development of supermarkets, working women having less time to cook and families eating out more often in fast food restaurants could also contribute to the change in eating habit. More importantly, the lifestyles of these people, who are consuming more calories, have become more sedentary as they exercise less.