Baby food: we analyze 17 brands of breakfast cereals that children consume most

When establishing breakfast in the children's diet, it is common to go to products that we find in the supermarket such as cookies or breakfast cereals. This time We analyze 17 brands of cereals that children consume most.

Nutrients of breakfast cereals

The cereals They are first and foremost a source of complex carbohydrates, however, we are interested in knowing in their interior what proportion of good nutrients such as fiber or protein there is as well as the content of added sugar or salt.

To know these data, we analyze 17 brands of breakfast cereals and show in the following table their main nutrients per 100 grams:

CerealsKcalHydratesof which sugarsProteinFatSaltFiber
Corn Flakes Kelloggs37884870.91.133
Frosties37587374.50.60.832
Choco Krispies38284176.31.90.653
Unicorns froot loops Kelloggs391802583.51.133.5
Rice krispies Kelloggs387867.971.212
Chocapic Original38674.628.88.14.50.327.4
Golden grahams38579.724.873.20.984.7
Smacks382844161.50.084
All Bran choco39265191080.0510
Nesquik36975.824.98.41.70.448.7
Little stars39978.124.77.45.40.354.4
Cereals Lion Caramel and chocolate40975.528.87.57.30.495.3
Honey pops38085285.41.10.834
Stuffed with Mercadona milk44765321015.40.754
Xtreme Carrefour44574317120.55.5
Seleqtia Eroski dark and milk chocolate46361.325920.33.55.3
Stuffed with chocolate and hazelnut Mercadona41572392.1101.23.1
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As we can see, breakfast cereals are primarily a source of carbohydrates, but most of them they have a huge amount of sugar inside and are scarce in protein that all children need for proper growth and development.

We also found in breakfast cereals one appreciable proportion of salt which is primarily a source of sodium, a mineral that WHO recommends reducing in the usual diet.

It is important to clarify that the breakfast cereal ration is 30 grams which is the amount we find in about half a cup.

Sugar from baby cereals

Most industrial breakfast cereals are sugar-filled foods free or additives that are absorbed quickly and that WHO recommends reducing to less than 10% of daily calories.

These sugars in excess predispose to suffer cavities, overweight and obesity, diabetes and many other diseases linked to food, therefore, we must try that our children do not exceed 38 grams of sugar daily (approximately 10% of daily calories) and ideally that they consume less than 20 grams each day.

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Cereals that highest proportion of sugar possess are the Smacks with just over 40% sugar and also, the Frosties, cereals stuffed with chocolate or honey inside.

So, With a ration of 30 grams of a cereal like Smacks we can reach almost 50% of the daily quota recommended by the WHO for children, an appreciable amount if we consider that many other foods that children consume have excess sugar.

The less sugar options are Cron Flakes and Rice Krispies from Kellogs, which do not reach 10% sugar but also have this nutrient of poor quality inside.

Fats from breakfast cereals

Although carbohydrates and sugars are the nutrients that predominate in commercial breakfast cereals, they can also offer fats in varying amounts.

The cereals with more fats are those of chocolate or fillings, such as Mercadona or Seleqtia de Eroski of dark chocolate and milk chocolate.

Most cereal fats that are filled with milk or chocolate are Saturated fats, because they have milk chocolate.

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And in some cases we find mostly poor quality vegetable oils with saturated fats as well, as it is in Mercadona cereals filled with chocolate and hazelnuts that have palm oil.

The less fat options are Corn Flakes and Frosties Kellogs, which are perhaps simple options, without the addition of chocolates or various flavors. Although the latter are the highest proportion of sugar among its ingredients, as we have seen before.

The fiber of breakfast cereals

We might think that breakfast cereals are a good option to add fiber to our children's diet, which need between 25 and 30 grams daily after 4 years according to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics.

But nevertheless, the breakfast cereals that have more fiber, the All Bran chocolate, they have 10% of this nutrient, which translates into that per serving of 30 grams only 3 grams of fiber are ingested, amount that does not cover more than 1% of the recommended fee.

In addition, if we compare with an unprocessed whole grain cereal such as quinoa, oats or wheat germ, the amount of fiber easily exceeds 10 grams per 100 grams of food consumed. Then, we realize that breakfast cereals are not a good source of fiber although they insinuate that yes in its container.

Children's cereal salt

Finally, as with adult biscuits and cereals, children's breakfast cereals of industrial origin may also have a lot of sugar, appreciable amounts of salt, which translates into too much sodium.

An excess of salt or sodium in the diet of children can cause kidney problems and even lead to greater calorie consumption and thus, favor overweight or obesity. Therefore, it is another nutrient that WHO recommends moderating in the usual diet.

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The children they should never consume more than 4 grams of salt a day, which is almost the amount they offer cereals with more salt per 100 grams that are Eroski's Seleqtia.

So, with a serving of cereal we can reach a consumption of between 0.3 and 1 gram of salt, an appreciable amount if we consider that in addition to this food other very salty can be included in your diet.

Conclusion: commercial cereals are ultraprocessed to avoid

As with many other baby foods that are appealing to children, commercial breakfast cereals are nothing more than ultra-processed to avoid in the usual diet, or at least choose the healthiest brands.

As such, they have low nutritional quality: they are rich in sugars and salt and do not contribute appreciable amounts of protein or fiber that are needed in a healthy children's diet.

In addition, they do not satisfy but can raise the threshold of sweetness or the appetite for sweets, thus stimulating a poor quality diet in our kids.

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So what options to choose for a healthy breakfast? Well natural, non-industrial cereals such as rice, oats, quinoa in all its variants, and even couscous that we can include in a bowl of milk or porridge as if it were oatmeal. We could also make rice pudding, quinoa with milk or similar and always, We recommend to accompany with fresh fruits as well as with milk or natural yogurt (without added sugar) to achieve a quality breakfast and that provides all the nutrients that children need in each meal.

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