Download Children`s breakfast cereals

Children’s breakfast cereals
Kids get a rough deal when it
comes to breakfast cereals.
Many of the cereals marketed
to them are at least one-third
sugar.
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A healthy cereal is the perfect
kick-start to your child's day. We looked
at 45 cereals that appealed to children by
using bright packaging, sweet flavours - or a range of promotional activities.
Do kids need breakfast?
Kids need breakfast. Of course they do. If your kids skip breakfast, they're more
likely to be hungry mid-morning and snack on fat-laden food. There's also some
evidence eating breakfast is associated with alertness and better academic
performance in children during the morning.
Some argue any breakfast is better than no breakfast - especially if it includes milk
and fruit. But the quality of breakfast is important.
Our kids have a big problem with tooth decay. The 2002 National Nutrition Survey
found that 64 percent of children had filled or dressed teeth.
And then there's our increasing problem with obesity. More than 20 percent of Kiwi
kids are overweight; an additional 10 percent are obese.
Breakfast cereals aren't the only culprit. Lack of physical activity and other foods
play a key role in putting on weight. And sugary drinks have been linked to tooth
decay. But choosing the right cereal may help make a difference.
The good news is there are some great cereal options.
Unhealthy advertising
Milo cereal's footbag prize Kids are bombarded daily by sophisticated food
marketing. A World Health Organization (WHO) expert report from 2006 tells us
why: it says there's evidence advertising foods high in fat, sugar and salt make
children want to eat these unhealthy foods.
Other studies also show children are much more likely to want to eat food that
comes in branded packaging than food with no branding - even if it's the same
product.
Here are some of the key tactics used to market cereals:
* Free gifts: Nestle Milo has a free Footbag (pictured above right) inside its
cereal boxes. There are four to collect so you'll have to keep buying Milo cereal to
collect them all.
* Competitions: Kellogg's Coco Pops has a competition kids can enter as often
as they like - provided you keep buying the product.
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* Games and puzzles: Games and puzzles that appear on food packaging
encourage children to spend time reading the packaging and becoming familiar
with the brand. Kellogg's Frosties uses colouring-in, Kellogg's Crispix has a "word
find" and the Nature's Path Envirokidz Organic range has facts about animals as
well as on-pack puzzles.
* Pester power: Many cereals have claims about the vitamins and minerals in
their products. This puts a healthy spin on foods that are otherwise low in
nutritional value. It's a way of appealing to parents too. Kellogg's Frosties, for
example, has added iron and vitamins - but they're more than 40 percent sugar so
get the thumbs down from us.
* The internet: Kellogg's, Hubbards and Nestle have websites where kids learn
about their products, play interactive games (called "advergames") and puzzles,
and enter competitions. It gives companies the opportunity to reinforce their
brand.
* Movie promotions: Breakfast cereals often tie in with the latest blockbuster
movie, with collectible games or stickers and competitions.
Television a special case
Advertising affects what kids choose to eat.TV advertising is perhaps the most
controversial means of promoting food to children. We surveyed the number of
food ads screened on TV1, TV2, TV3, Prime, Sky and C4 during one week in April
2008.
Nearly 2500 food ads were broadcast. Just over a quarter of those were for fastfood companies; chocolate bars and other treat foods also made regular
appearances. This type of advertising heavily outweighed the 460 ads for healthier
foods such as packaged steamed vegetables and lean meat.
There were 349 ads promoting breakfast cereals. Kellogg's and Sanitarium were
the biggest advertisers and we were pleasantly surprised that the majority of ads
were for their healthier options such as Kellogg's Just Right, Sanitarium Weet-Bix
and Sanitarium's wholegrain products.
From July 2008 a new system has restricted advertising certain foods. The
Children's Food Classification System applies to children's (5 to 13 years)
programming hours. It's based on Ministry of Health guidelines and gives a process
for making decisions about what food and drink can be advertised during these
hours.
Critics of the system say kids watch television outside these times anyway. And it
doesn't address the fact that many companies are increasingly advertising their
products on the internet.
The Advertising Standards Authority is responsible for the content of TV advertising.
The code for Advertising to Children and the code for Advertising of Food state ads
should not encourage inappropriate or excessive consumption and have guidelines
around endorsements by celebrities. However, TV advertising itself is selfregulated and the codes are voluntary.
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