Kids consuming large amounts of sugar via cereal
By Michael Roppolo, CBS News
A report by a consumer watchdog group says a shocking amount of sugar is packed into children’s breakfast cereals. Eating a bowl of kids’ cereal every day would add up to consuming the equivalent of 10 pounds of sugar a year, according to the report by the Environmental Working Group.
“Breakfast cereals are the single greatest source of added sugars in the diets of children under the age of eight,” said nutritionist and EWG consultant Dawn Undurraga, co-author of the report which looked at 181 cereals marketed for children.
Recent research has shown that there has been some progress in reducing obesity rates in young children, but for all other age groups there has been little sign of improvement. One of the reasons for the lack of progress may be due to the high amounts of sugar that Americans consume — far more than the commonly recommended amount of 10 to 15 percent of total calorie intake. In March, the World Health Organization lowered sugar intake recommendations to less than 5 percent.
