Some Cereal Makers Market The Most Unhealthy Product To Children

by Yuliya Talmazan | October 29, 2009 at 02:19 pm

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A new Yale study says U.S. cereal manufacturers aggressively market the least healthy of its cereals to young children. The worst offenders, according to the study, are Kellog, Quaker and General Mills.

The study finds that cereals marketed by these companies to children contain more sugar and sodium than the ones marketed to adults. They also contain less fibre. These findings make sense given that children go for stuff that tastes sweeter or saltier, but how dangerous is it to have children consume increased concentration of sugar and salt in their morning cereals? In general, increased sugar levels can lead to obesity and diabetes, while increased salt concentrations can lead to early heart problems.

"The worst cereals are being marketed very heavily to children," says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center.

Of the cereals targeted directly at children, just eight per cent met limits on sugar content to qualify for inclusion in the USDA's Women, Infants and Children program.

None met the nutrition standards required to advertise to children in the United Kingdom.

The list of the bottom 10 cereals by nutrition score compiled by Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity can be found here.

General Mills and Kellogg, the producers of the majority of the cereals that were designated the least healthy, spend a combined total of $146 million each year marketing cereal to children, according to the report.

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