Cherie, my Sister in law, brought my nephew over this morning as she does every weekday morning around 6:30am. This morning she woke me up telling me that she brought a healthy cereal for the kids.
OK
Knowing Cherie it wasn't. So I looked. Kix. Ya.
Really she was trying to do something nice, I know that.
I asked her if she read the label and of course she hadn't. The power of advertising is strong. I think I need to coin a term for false healthy food advertising. Something like greenwashing.
Anyway, Cherie did read the claims on the box that say, "Grow up strong with Big G kid cereals" and "good source of calcium and Vitamin D". What she didn't read was that the 4th ingredient in the cereal is sugar. (She thinks I am ridiculous by the way because I won't let my kids have soda or Hawaiian Punch).
Sugar in the morning has all kinds of ill side effects. According to Dr. Mercola, Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders. For a full listing go to http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm.
The point is that Cherie is like so many consumers who believe the advertising. How many people actually read labels with knowledge?
I know that Sugar has been implicated in upsets to the calcium/phosphorus balance.
I know this because I spend time asking our naturapath educated questions about my children's diets and reading research on nutrition.
Don't get me started on the 210mg of sodium in each serving.
Yes, the box listed a table of vitamins that they pumped into the cereal. However, the sugar is going to effect the absorption of those vitamins.
I am not the food police, my kids get there share of Del Taco and cookies. What I am not ok with is the fallacy that we are feeding our kids healthy food when we aren't. I wish more people would take some time to educate themselves about nutrition, artificial ingredients and chemicals in food.
I also think that manufacturers should take more responsibility. Sugar cereals are directly marketed to our kids and they have very little if any nutritional value.
Time to get off my soapbox.
Happy, optimistic Ali can come back out to play.
2 comments:
No doubt, huh?
I think advertising to children should be illegal. Yeah, the line that divides advertising to adults and children is hard to define but just like the Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart advised, I know child advertising when I see it.
Our media is out of control. Our $ is our vote and election day is EVERY day.
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