Recent studies and news reports have made parents — many of whom grew up eating sugary cereals and other indulgent breakfast items — reconsider what they give their kids to eat each morning.
One, from Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, showed that cereals marketed to children contain 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber, and 60% more sodium than cereals marketed to adults.
Another, conducted by the Chicago Tribune, asserted that major cereal manufacturers had not lived up to recent promises that they would lower their sugar content and shift their marketing focus.
Some manufacturers have re-upped their commitment in light of the negative attention. General Mills, for one, has pledged to reduce the sugar content in its cereals marketed to kids down to single digits per serving.
“We know that some consumers would prefer to see cereals that are even lower in sugar, especially children's cereals,” said Jeff Harmening, president of General Mills' Big G cereal division, in a statement.