Ready To Eat Cereals Suitable For Children

Ready-to-eat cereal can be a healthy breakfast option for kids. Many cereals marketed toward children are made with refined flours, added sugars and brightly-colored additives. Consult the nutrition and ingredient labels of the cereals your kids pick out, and look for specific features before agreeing to bring them home for breakfast.

Significance

Children who skip breakfast tend to have higher body mass indexes, higher waist sizes and a greater prevalence of obesity than children who eat ready-to-eat cereal, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published in the June 2010 issue of the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association." In this survey of over 9,000 children aged 9 to 18 years, children who ate ready-to-eat cereal for breakfast also had better overall nutrition in their diet compared with those who skipped breakfast or those who ate other foods in the morning.

Features

Ready-to-eat cereals suitable for children should contain a specific nutrient profile, as suggested by Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears, R.N., on their website. Cereals should provide a minimum of 3 g of protein per serving and contain 25 to 40 percent of the recommended dietary allowance for zinc, iron and other vitamins and minerals. Suitable cereals should have a carbohydrate-to-sugar ratio of 4:1 or higher -- meaning if a cereal provides 32 g of carbohydrates, it should have 8 g or fewer of sugar per serving.

Whole Grains

Whole grains provide fiber to help with digestive health. A higher intake of whole grains also correlates with reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, notes the Harvard School of Public Health. Cereals suitable for children contain a whole grain as the first ingredient, meaning "oats," "whole wheat," "wheat bran" or another whole grain is listed first rather than just "enriched wheat flour."

Ingredients to Avoid

Certain ingredients make a cereal unsuitable for optimal nutrition for anyone, especially children. Partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredient list mean the cereal contains at least trace amounts of trans fats, which can both raise bad cholesterol levels and decrease good levels. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 2 percent of daily calories from these man-made fats -- if a child consumes 1,500 calories per day, this is just 1.5 g. Some artificial colors and dyes and chemical preservatives can cause reactions in sensitive children. Instead of testing your kids to see if they are sensitive, avoid these additives altogether.

Considerations

Instead of leaving your children out of the cereal-buying process altogether, choose several suitable cereals and let them choose which one to put in the cart. Kids may be more likely to eat the cereal if they feel they play a part in the selection process. Do not put a lot of investment in claims on the front of the cereal box. Statements like "low fat" or "reduced sugar" do not give you much information about the cereal's complete nutritional profile.