Dr. Mercola May 17 2008 92,438 views
Studies have shown that eating breakfast can have beneficial effects on:
However, feeding your child sugary kids-cereals is not the wisest or brightest breakfast choice. Kids’ cereals are loaded with sugar and carbohydrates, neither of which benefits your child’s health.
Obesity has become a major concern for American children, with sugar and carbohydrates being two of the major culprits contributing to this growing problem.
In the last two decades, the prevalence of overweight adolescents has nearly tripled, and current statistics show 16 percent of children are overweight or obese.
Overweight and obese children not only face a heightened risk of health problems -- heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, and type 2 diabetes, just to name a few -- but they are also likely to suffer from low self-esteem and depression as a result of their weight. Being overweight or obese can take a big emotional toll on a young child or teen.
Sugar Baby
According to this study, one serving of cereal equated to 11 percent of the daily limit of added sugar for active boys, aged 14 to 18 years old, and an astounding 92 percent of the daily sugar intake for sedentary girls aged 9 to 13.
The problem with feeding your child foods high in added sugar is twofold -- they contain little in terms of vitamins and minerals, and the calories they contain are not made up of important micronutrients needed for health and growth.
Reducing sugar intake should be on the top of your list regardless of whether your child is currently overweight or not, because it’s been proven over and over that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to:
In fact, sugar is bad for your health in so many ways, I’ve compiled an entire list outlining 100-Plus Ways in Which Sugar Can Damage Your Health!
Now, having said that, completely eliminating sugar from your child’s diet is probably not reasonable, or even necessary. While it clearly will decrease your child’s health, sugar in moderation is likely not going to cause any significant damage.
What do I mean by moderation?
Well, something on the order of five pounds a year. This is considerably less than the average amount Americans consume, which is closer to 175 pounds per year.
Taking a close look at the sugar content of your child’s cereal, which is consumed on a daily basis, is therefore necessary. Just how much sugar are you feeding your child each day?
One 2005 study that analyzed the daily sugar intake of 5,000 toddlers ranging in age from 2 to 5, found that, on average, 2- to 3-year olds consumed around 14 teaspoons of added sugar a day. This number jumped to 17 teaspoons daily among 4- to 5-year olds. That’s WAY too much!
However, I propose you take things one step further than simply switching for a brand with lower sugar content.
Why?
Because of the grains.
How Much Grain Does Your Child Need?
Grains are such common staples that most can’t imagine them not being good for you. But all of these common items really should be avoided when planning your child’s breakfast:
Carb types can actually do well with grains, but remember; only about 15 percent of the population are carb types, at best. So for the majority, grains and cereals should be limited or avoided as much as possible.
Because grains rapidly break down to sugar in your body, stimulating insulin production. So you’re right back to the issue of too much sugar again.
I’ve written an entire book on the subject of children’s health and nutrition called Generation XL: Raising Healthy, Intelligent Kids in a High-Tech, Junk-Food World. Not only does it offer lots of tips for how to get your kids to lead more active lives, it also explains Nutritional Typing and how you can help ensure your child gets the nutrition he or she really needs, setting the stage for lifelong optimal health. It even includes 74 pages of kid-approved recipes that satisfy even your picky eaters.
What Else Can Your Child Eat For Breakfast?
My primary recommendation for Carb and Mixed nutritional types is to prepare and consume fresh vegetable juice, making sure to also eat the pulp. (It’s loaded with so many valuable phytonutrients, it would be unwise to discard it.) Veggie juice is a really simple breakfast alternative, and suitable even for your youngest ones.
Juicing may not be the best option for Protein types (like me), however, so if your child is a Protein type, you’d want to limit them to 10 ounces or less of raw juice each day, and restrict the vegetables to lower potassium varieties such as spinach and celery.
Here’s another option; a kid-approved breakfast recipe, straight from my book.
Vegetable Omelet 1 tablespoon olive oil1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms1 cup sliced zucchini4 eggs, slightly beaten¼ teaspoon black pepper3 tablespoons water½ tablespoon olive oil½ cup rice mozzarella shredded (optional) Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add mushrooms and zucchini. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are crisply tender (4-5 minutes). Remove from skillet and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together remaining omelet ingredients except olive oil and cheese. In same skillet, heat ½ tablespoon olive oil. Pour egg mixture into skillet. Cook over medium heat, lifting with spatula to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath until omelet is set (3-4 minutes.) Place sautéed vegetables and cheese on half of omelet. Gently fold other half of omelet over filling.
Vegetable Omelet
1 tablespoon olive oil1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms1 cup sliced zucchini4 eggs, slightly beaten¼ teaspoon black pepper3 tablespoons water½ tablespoon olive oil½ cup rice mozzarella shredded (optional)
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add mushrooms and zucchini. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are crisply tender (4-5 minutes). Remove from skillet and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together remaining omelet ingredients except olive oil and cheese. In same skillet, heat ½ tablespoon olive oil. Pour egg mixture into skillet. Cook over medium heat, lifting with spatula to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath until omelet is set (3-4 minutes.) Place sautéed vegetables and cheese on half of omelet. Gently fold other half of omelet over filling.
Great article, I would however, love some suggestions on alternatives. Bearing in mind I live pretty remotely (no whole foods market etc) besides the omelets that dr mercola suggested of course.
Many thanks
Naomi-I am right there with you! We live in a rural farm area with only one tiny "health" store, no food in it, just supplements, Burt's Bees, etc. (and thank heaven for Burt's Bees!) Also, living on a beef cattle farm, I understand both sides of the hormone injections, antibiotics, etc. I don't think people understand that farmers who raise beef cattle usually rely solely on the money from their cattle to LIVE ON! Sometimes if you don't give a cow antibiotics, she would die, and there goes a ton of money with her! People should try to be understanding and make ways for the farmer to get more money for cows with no hormones, etc. I'm sure this is true for the big feed lots, but not for the small farmer! And I was wondering-I am just getting on board with "natural, no chemicals, no HFCS," etc. and I was wondering about oatmeal? A fav breakfast of my kids and I. We have diabetes in our fam, so I want to get us on the right track!
tjfarmgirl - I think oatmeal can be a healthy breakfast choice, if it's not the packaged or quick cooking type. It's especially good if you use a "Steel-cut" variety and then also add some other ingredients to supplement the nutritional value. I love adding fresh ground flax seed, chopped apples, cinnamon and a bit of raw almond butter. This adds protein, fiber and some healthy fats as well. Yumm!
Naomi, scroll down to Fed Potter's comment. I offered him some alternatives but the list was by no means complete. Yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit are other options. So is homemade granola. Grapefruit takes time to prepare but melons are a snap. And who dictates what's "breakfast food"? Think outside the box!
I don't consider "adult" cereal any healthier than children's cereal. The average grocery store doesn't have any cereal that doesn't have some kind of refined sweetener. And, I've actually seen cereals, and not just for kids, with four different processed sweeteners. Even "organic" cereals are sweetened with evaporated cane juice. It's still sugar. I can go 30 miles out of town and find fruit juice sweetened corn flakes. But, they're low in fiber.
You can usually find a section in major groceries stores that carry natural/organic cereals and grains. I live in a small town and its hidden away in a corner at our Krogers store. Hard to find, its not with the regular cereals and oats etc. I buy a bag of Bob's Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Whole Grain(thats a mouthful)and cook them in my steamer. When they are done I use a bag of organic frozen cherries and a few drops of stevia to sweeten. Im not a big cooked oats fan but I love these. Also can use the frozen fruits with some orange juice, yogurt,and milk,and stevia in a blender. Make it like a drink or use less liquid and its like a sorbet, just add some granola or nuts on top. They will think they are getting dessert for breakfast.
ALERT: OCA LAUNCHES KELLOGG'S BOYCOTT
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SUGAR TO HIT SUPERMARKET SHELVES THIS YEAR
The Organic Consumers Association's (OCA) and allies are calling for a boycott of all Kellogg's products after Kellogg's refuses to source only GE-Free Sugar. Monsanto's RoundUp Ready Genetically Engineered Sugar is due to hit stores this year, exposing millions of consumers to untested and unlabeled "Franken Foods" that threaten human heath, the environment and farmers' rights everywhere.
Take Action-Join the Boycott! organicconsumers.org/kelloggs.cfm
Sign OCA's Petition to Kellogg's salsa.democracyinaction.org/.../petition.jsp
Make a Free Call to Kellogg's and let them know how you feel organicconsumers.org/.../CallKelloggs.htm
Send a Letter to the Editor of you Local Newspapers about the Boycott salsa.democracyinaction.org/.../letter
YES!
Eat whole organic raw produce.
Make a breakfast smoothie with organic: hemp protein powder, almond butter, whole food mineral vitamin supplement, fish oil, probiotic, ground flax seed, greens, banana, apple, almond milk, and pure water...and watch your kids transform!!!
Most cold cereals, even those that aren't marketed to kids, I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. With the exception of organic brands, almost every cereal on store shelves, even those touted as "heart healthy", are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, some of the worst crap you can put in the human body, which raises triglycerides and contributes to cardiovascular disease. And, some HFCS-sweetened cereals ALSO contain sugar (sucrose), fructose, and corn syrup. FOUR sweeteners in ONE product! Ridiculous! Other than fruit juice sweetened cereals, I also shy away from the organic brands. Since they are sweetened with evaporated cane juice, which is just minimally processed sucrose. I have eaten Fiber One "twig" cereal, but it's "sweetened" with aspartame. How about some unsweetened cold cereals?
And, let's not forget the deceptive claims aimed at us health-conscious adults. Such as heart-healthy. On cereals full of such heart disease-promoting ingredients as HFCS. Now, they've added digestive health claims to cereals. If they really want to promote disestive health, why not lose the HFCS and add flax-seed?
Please everyone--we may not agree on every nitty gritty issue, but I implore you all to remember that we are on the same side, if only by virtue of being against the other side. We share a common enemy, that is, the deliberate, assiduous and pernicious corruption, by powerful forces, of our food supply. Furthermore, ignorance is the ally of this aggressive adversary. Even if we differ about the small stuff, we must all work together to spread awareness among our neighbors. Keep in mind that there isn't a one-size-fits-all dietary solution, even though we can be assured that spreading throughout our country is a one-size-fits-all dietary malignancy which decades of complacency have allowed to become deeply rooted, and which is being exported throughout the world. As an American, I am very much ashamed of the way America has exploited its influence as a world leader to the detriment of mankind rather than employing our resources and power toward the benefit of our own citizens and the rest of the world. Looking at the multitude of posts on mercola.com, it is evident that we have the numbers to be a powerful force for positive change, but we have to stand together and support each other. Let's keep our eye on the ball.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dr. Mercola!
This tiny article on sugared cereals is easy to skim over, yet it shines the light on the slow demise this nation is heading towards. Just as the Roman Empire collapsed due to lead poisoning, ours is also collapsing from the inside.
Worse is the fact that children crave those candied cereals even more than ever due to the antibiotics they get subjected to by family doctors and pediatricians.
I've put together a hubpage article on it. It's entitled "How to Flatten your tummy and end food cravings effortlessly," but the hub applies to children as well.
There's nothing to buy there, so here's the link hubpages.com/.../How-to-Flatten-Your-Tummy-and-End-Food-Cravings-EFFORTLESSLY
Dr. Mercola probably has some products that'll do the same thing. So come on back. :-)
Our children need help with this now...or yesterday...it's that critical.
The best to you.
Kelley Eidem
Your article is a little misguided as to how yeast function in the colon. Also, if yeast are using all of the sugar in the intestines, then sugar will not be absorbed into the blood. Hence, no calories and no insulin spike - would act much like a parasite would. Please do not share misinformation.
Thanks - Dave D