Updated Mon. Sep. 4 2006 10:19 PM ET
CTV.ca News
A survey has found that many of the most popular children's cereals contain very high levels of sugar -- so high that parents might as well hand their kids a chocolate bar for breakfast.
CTV News and the Globe and Mail decided to examine the sugar content in some of the most popular brands, to investigate one of the possible contributing factors to the epidemic of childhood obesity.
One-quarter of Canadian children are now overweight or obese, and often their diets are linked to serious illnesses including diabetes.
Here's a snapshot of the cereal survey:
* Based on a 50-gram serving, Kellogg's Froot Loops had 22.5 grams of sugar, as much as a dark chocolate Kit Kat bar.
* Nestle Nesquick had 23.3 grams of sugar, almost on par with a Twix candy bar.
* And Post's Sugar Crisps cereal had over 26.6 grams of sugar. That's more sugar than a Coffee Crisp bar or Snickers.
"I was actually shocked at how much sugar there is in some cereals these days, and shocked when you compare it to the amount of sugar in chocolate bars," says Toronto-based dietitian Rosie Schwartz.
She said parents would be horrified to give their children a chocolate bar for breakfast.
"But when you think about eating you know a serving of cereal that contains the same amount of sugar, they might think twice about they're serving their kids."
Not only are these cereals very sugary, they are being doled out at twice the recommended serving.
"It's not one bowl of cereal. It's many bowls of cereals. Most kids don't stop at one bowl," says Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California in San Francisco.
Lustig says high sugar at breakfast promotes hormonal imbalances that encourage kids to overeat. More overweight children are developing diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
"These cereals and processed food are high in fructose, which poisons your liver, and they are low in fibre which makes your insulin go up," he says. "Ultimately you are setting them up for continued process of weight gain."
Breakfast and learning stats
Offering children breakfast foods lower in sugar and higher in fibre -- such as oatmeal and bran -- may not only keep off the pounds. It may also help with learning.
Psychologists from Tufts University recently conducted a study where 60 school-aged children were given three different breakfasts:
* Day one: Oatmeal
* Day two: A sugar ready-to-eat breakfast
* Day three: No breakfast
After each breakfast, the children in the survey were given a number of tests that measured cognitive performance.
Overall, tests scores were highest when children ate a breakfast. However, children performed best on tests of spatial memory -- used in math, art and geography -- after eating oatmeal compared to sugary cereal.
However, Kellogg Canada, the maker of a host of cereals, including Corn Pops and Rice Krispies, denies their products are harmful to children.
"Pre-sweetened cereals, just like other cereals, provide many essential nutrients. For example, Froot Loops contains seven essential vitamins and minerals, including 50 per cent of a child's daily requirement of iron," the company said in a statement to CTV News.
"What's more, several studies have shown that when eaten as part of a healthy diet, sugar is not linked to the development of obesity, hyperactivity in children, type 2 diabetes or heart disease."
* Full statements from Kraft Foods and Kellogg Canada
However, Lustig accuses "big food companies" of a marketing scheme.
"The reason they are so popular is that kids will pester their parents to eat them. You'll notice the sugared cereals are put down at eye level for children and there is a specific marketing strategy going on there."
He recommends giving children food with six to seven grams of fibre per serving, and being wary of lower-sugar kids cereals, which may compensate with more carbohydrates.
"Breakfast cereal is just one manifestation of what's gone on with our entire diet," says Lustig.
With a report from CTV's Avis Favaro and research by Elizabeth St. Philip and Shaneeva Yassin
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