To wonder who is buying chocolate cereal

[Blueyseviltwin]

Who om each is buying Lion bar and Oreo cereal? See also lucky charms, nesquick and coco pops
These aren't breakfast foods (or any sort of food). I literally cannot imagine anyone thinking it is a reasonable way of feeding children?

@Willyoujust
>> what do you feed your children to
>> start their day

High protein, low-moderate fat, low sugar offerings with a small amount of complex carbohydrates.

Breakfast cereals are an abomination ... predominantly the factory-produced ones ... no one necessarily needs a high carb, high sugar load doctored by machines and questionable additives.

High protein, low-moderate fat, low sugar offerings with a small amount of complex carbohydrates

Mmmm, I love the smell of high protein, low-moderate fat, low sugar offerings with a small amount of complex carbohydrates in the morning. 😁

Me. Love Coco Pops, Nesquik and especially hazelnut Krave. I’ve been eating chocolate cereal for 30+ years. I prefer a sweet breakfast. Is it anyone else’s business?

I was tired and messaging between tasks.

I am not all that bothered if I'm believed or not. I'm a GP, my wife is a teacher so we regularly have conversations about children/ health/ development. We also have 3 (adopted) children (1,3,4) who have a range of needs due to their histories. I have a very strong interest in child health and development.

Poverty is a huge problem but largely due to lack of education and beliefs around food I.e. children won't eat porridge/ lentils/ stews etc. So "need" to be feed coco pops and nuggets.

We have lived in a number of countries and (apart from the States) the UK has amongst the worst knowledge of diet.

I buy such a small amount of chocolate for DD at Easter because the rest of the family go entirely overboard and she ends up with this massive stack. She's three, but she's also the only one on my side (and it's unlikely that she ever won't be) so she does get quite "spoilt".

It's fine though. It all goes in a box and we don't have to buy chocolate for another couple of months (we might "help" her eat it).

She likes cereal. And fruit. And yogurt. And bacon. And sausages. And broccoli. And carrots. She loves crisps. She likes the idea of cakes and biscuits but when you give her them she usually has a couple of bites then asks for a banana.

For a NT kid, food should never be made a "big deal". Let them eat. Show them what's a "normal", healthy diet by eating it yourself and they will just follow on. Demonising Coco Pops will not help them eat healthily.

Yes we should all care. The NHS is on it's knees trying to handle lots of health conditions, secondary to poor diet and lack of exercise. Obesity is only the tip of the ice berg.

Childrens diets are positively frightening. Really fascinating to read the earlier message that most primary age children wouldn't eat a pulled pork?

I just don’t get people who travel abroad on holiday in the hotel for breakfast, have bloody boring corn flakes! They are the most boring cereal ever.

I'm 37 and love a bowl of Coco pops at night as a kind of cross between supper and something sweet at the end of the night! Not very often, but occasionally it just hits the spot.

We have a 5 year old so I usually get a box for "holiday cereal" 😋

Maybe they like them.

You have to take into account Muslims, Jews, many Sikhs and Hindus, vegetarians and vegans who certainly wouldn't touch pork.
I'm surprised that you haven't come across this. Plus many other parents would baulk at giving a heavy meat diet to young children.

My 6 year old had left over onion bhajis from the curry house for his breakfast today 😂

i grew up eating cocopops or weetos for my breakfast most days, im still alive at 46. Don’t have kids, do eat a nutritious varied diet, exercise blah blah. Every now and then i treat myself to some. Probably nostalgia really. Again still alive and healthy.

Plenty of children don’t even get to eat.

Love it! 😄

who has time to make porridge in the morning

The last childrens ward i worked on previously. Sometimes had coco pops…, first cereal to run out of! 👀🤣Sick children need calories and to eat.You can’t change their diet while unwell and in a strange environment.

A bowl of chocolate cereal is not why the NHS is broken. I ate it daily as a child and i’ve not had antibiotics for 25 years. My NHS use is currently minimal. Food isn’t good or bad, some food is less nutritious sure but how’s the rest of the diet??

Love Chocolate Special K from Paris! Not sweet, not too much choc. Just large grated pieces of dark choc hiding amongst the flakes.Just like a chocolate milkshake but far better...

Get up with enough time?

Treat mealtimes as part of the day that needs structuring in, rather than rushed through.

Some parents have to leave the house early and/or have many demands on their time. Not everyone can stand and stir a porridge pot, or feels it necessary to do so.

It’s takes literally 5 minutes.

Do you use that instant porridge?

You don’t have to. I use normal porridge oats and it t takes five minutes. Less if you soak the oats overnight and warm them up or if you use the microwave and then just let it stand with the occasional stir. Jumbo oats take ages but porridge oats like Flahavan’s are quick.

You just bung it in the microwave for a few minutes...

Nope - we eat the organic jumbo oats from Aldi. 2 mins in microwave, stir, followed by 3 mins in microwave and stir.

I’m very healthy. Middle aged and thankfully no complaints. I also don’t live in the UK anymore and haven’t used the NHS in decades.

Many, many of us grew up eating different food than people do now. I grew up dirt poor and we ate what we were given. School lunches in the 80s were processed everything. I make lunches and dinner from scratch but I work 10-12 hour days and hate having to eat breakfast so I just have something I enjoy. Sometimes that’s cereal, sometimes a pastry, sometimes toast and Nutella.

OP has gone from not knowing that supermarkets sell sweet cereals and being aghast to being a family of GP, teacher, 3 DC with needs and lived in several countries, I wonder if OP will add anymore as the thread goes along, I'm surprised they hadn't been down the cereal aisle before. I wonder if their wife is dishing up toast this week for the state run breakfasts.