I think this is great that they are stepping up to make more healthier cereals for kids, but!! I don't think it is right for parents to try to sue them to get them to comply. I know we are facing a childhood obesity epidemic but come on, who buys the crap that these kids are eating? I don't buy my kids this kind of stuff. I try to make healthy choices for them and they have learned to like the healthy stuff. Yes, they still ask for sugary cereal and other things they see commercials for but I do the shopping so that crap doesn't go into my cart. Just my opinion.
I agree that much of the responsibility is on the parents, but I also think that the average American is under-educated about how to determine how nutritious a cereal is (plenty of mixed messages out there about what "healthy" is). And the grain manufacturers (General Mills, Kellogg's) are pretty sneaky about how they advertise, about what they put in those cereals and what they call it, etc.
Sugar cereal isn't great nutritionally, but calorie-wise it's not terrible. I don't think Froot Loops are the problem behind childhood obesity.
I definitely agree. The last time I shopped for cereal, the store didn't have my favorite kind. So I perused the nutrition labels of the "healthy cereals" and thought the calories were awfully high. The kids' cereals I looked at were much lower calorie-wise, so that's what I ended up getting (I think it was the Reese's Peanut Butter Puff cereal).
I agree that the healthy cereals do have pretty high calorie counts but look at what you are getting for those calories. I usually opt for shredded wheat or cream of wheat, which I think are pretty calorie friendly.Yes, they are on the bland, boring side but I like them.
I am the geek mom that when Tony the Tiger says, "part of this healthy breakfast" I say, "NOT!" so that my kids hear me, and I've told them that a hi-sugar cereal is not part of a healthy b'fast. It may not be hi in cals, but actually, the kids do need alot of healthy calories so they can run around and do well in school, but they don't need the sugar infusement that gives them a midmorning crash and sets them up to crave more sugar all day. It is up to us to teach them, but it will be nice to not have to run interference for all the bad messaging out there that my kids hear every day.
I'm not a parent, but I agree that the parents do need to take responsibility. I used to work in retail and I saw what I would call "questionable" decisions by parents. Like a mother buying Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for her eight year old child. Even after I made sure she was aware of what was in it. (By the way I got yelled at for warning parents since sometimes they refused to by the game once they knew the nature content) Parents shouldn't cave in jsut because their child wants it or sees it on tv or has friends that eat/play it too. That just sets up future problems. Sometimes I think parents are oblivious on purpose, or act like they are, just so they can blame their problems and their kids' problems on someone else other than themselves.
I'm happy that Kellogg did this and am not surprised that it took a lawsuit threat to make it happen. I am a parent, and while I do believe the parent bears a lot of responsibility for what their children eat, I do not agree that it is not "up to the parent." That is much too simplistic. I just answered a poll on this a few days ago and have been talking about this very thing with people over the last few days. My poll choices were to put the responsibility and blame on a)the parents b)schools c)tv/video games or d)communities. I picked communities and firmly believe that. I was shocked to see that that was the least popular answer of all. Right now my children are small, but one is in elementary school. He takes a lunch I pack at home most days, but on occasion gets the hot lunch. The choices they offer are crap. There are vending machines in school (not our elementary, but in the higer ed ones), am I responsible for what my child picks out of the vending machine when I am not there? Sure, I'm responsible for teaching my kid about healthy eating, but they are bombarded everywhere with ads for junk, movies contain corporate placement for junk...it's everywhere. When I take my kids shopping there's cartoons on all the junk. I'm not blaming the school or the media or me, but ALL OF IT. All rolled together. I believe that in America we have forgotten community and that is the root of many many of our problems right now, and I do believe childhood obesity is one of those. And I applaud groups of parents for standing up and saying "quit marketing this junk to our children...it's harmful to them." Tobacco companies were found to be responsible for the health problems they caused, why should a food company be any different?
I do see parents making terrible decisions about their kids diets. how many are really and truly informed or do they see "whole grain" on the box of cereal and think it must be ok? Also, it's cheaper to eat junk than to eat fresh healthy food prepared well. Not to mention less time-consuming. For those women getting WIC checks for thier kids to eat...they don't cover ANY produce.
While parents ultimately have to choose what goes in their grocery carts and not succumb to their children's whims, the food industry needs to step up to the plate here too. A lot of sugared cereals makers use high fructose corn sweeteners in their products and I think that is contributing to the increase in obesity and diabetes in this country. The body has to metabolize it differently from table sugar and it causes a more rapid rise in insulin levels. Heck, it's in so many foods that you have to read the labels on everything and it is hard to avoid it. I do think parents need to educate themselves. There's only so much your government or business can do, when people fail to feed themselves and their kids nutrionally sound foods. I believe that kids who are taught early to make good food choices and see that behavior modeled around them will probably make better choices when confronted with foods at school and away from home. It's too bad that people have to sue someone about it, but anymore that seems to be the impetus for getting big business to take notice.
Kellogg's are ging to improve nutrition in kid's cereals
I do think parents need to educate themselves. There's only so much your government or business can do, when people fail to feed themselves and their kids nutrionally sound foods. I believe that kids who are taught early to make good food choices and see that behavior modeled around them will probably make better choices when confronted with foods at school and away from home. It's too bad that people have to sue someone about it, but anymore that seems to be the impetus for getting big business to take notice.
