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?

Absolutely agree. That’s the main sense in which it was half arsed. I’m always banging on about the demonisation of sugar as a red herring. But, as you say, it was at least a step toward addressing the appalling issue of diet related morbidity. It at least acknowledged that there was a problem.

Indeed. Full makeup on as well.

Makes no odds to me. All of mine have SEN. If I'd presented my arfid eldest with cottage cheese on a morning she would have rejected all of her safe foods for days. My youngest is 18 and has to have protein shakes to top him up.

Cottage cheese pancakes indeed.

I'm assuming those who fuck on like that don't have a job and have the time.

I think even looking at cottage cheese would make my son with ARFID vomit.

One of my children has ARFID, they are mid 30s though so back when they were a child/teen it was "fussy eating" , it was so Frustrating trying to get support, so coco pops or Weetos was definitely the go to breakfast.

There eating is much better as they sort out their own eating.

Lion Bar cereal! I'm definitely gonna try that 😋👌

But most people don’t have ARFID. I have sympathy as I have a child with ADHD, so we have our battles, but luckily food isn’t one of them.

There is some ignorance here about cottage cheese. When you make your own pancakes, you can add any dairy element into the mix - milk, yoghurt, buttermilk - and yes, even cottage cheese. The dairy component is hidden within the mix. In other words, you are simply creating a pancake. You would never know it contained cottage cheese.

Sad that so many people don’t know how to cook.

I think many people on here are underestimating how unhealthy these so-called cereals are! Lion Bar cereal is 122 calories and 7.3g of sugar for 30g! That's not a bowlful that's a small handful! Many kids will no doubt be pouring at least 4 times that in the bowl and that can suddenly be over 500 calories and over 30g of sugar!

An adult portion would probably be heading for double that! That's the issue! It can't be coincidence that there's a massive surge in little kids having all their teeth rotting away at time when so many cereal products are now boxes of chocolate and caramel laden rubbish. I have a sweet tooth but I have no interest in taking in such high levels of sugar and calories in a morning.

I think this is a real problem. And it’s not just that the sugar content ends up being ludicrously high for anything other than a treat; it also contains glucose syrup, emulsifiers, flavourings, all of which are either questionable in their effects on the gut or have an appetite stimulating and addictive effect. And what positive nutritional value does it have? A bit of whole grain, and it’s fortified with various vitamins and minerals, though the evidence increasingly seems to show that added nutrients like that are poorly absorbed and of questionable use. I don’t mind sometimes giving the kids homemade muffins for breakfast, but they always contain fruit, eggs, wholemeal flour, yogurt. They have sugar in them, but it’s not just empty calories

A pork. A pork. My kingdom for a pork.

I have IBS and ultra processed foods can trigger me and that includes cereals when I even buy stuff like bran flakes which isn't as natural as it should be because of manufacturers putting chemicals in.

On a side note I sometimes wonder who still buys Kellogg's cereal, it's about £4 a box now. When supermarket rice Krispies taste exactly the same WHO IS BUYING KELLOGGS IN THIS ECONOMY 😂

People with autistic kids who can sense a box of Aldi own brand Bran Flakes from 20 paces away 😁, in my experience.

In all fairness I have found Aldi/Lidl don't pull off knock off cereals very well. Their cornflakes taste like balls. Tesco and Morrisons manage it a lot better. Not sure why that is

I'm quite shocked by the amount of YABU replies. I'm all for NOT banning things, I remember having a friend who always wanted to go to Macdonalds when we went out as it wasn't allowed. Whereas I didn't care, I had a birthday party in Burger King when I was 6, so it wasn't banned, but wasn't the norm. We sometimes had coco pops but mostly had weetabix, shredded wheat, porridge, cornflakes. Processed but not sugary. We also had Tropicana juice, chocolate muffins from the fresh baked counter and fluffy processed white supermarket bread. I knew that was treats.

But I think what you Don't realise though is the extent that it lacks nutritional value compared to healthier alternatives. I certainly didn't until I was an adult.

Very few cereals are considered a healthy breakfast never mind coming after the chocolate ones.

Kelloggs I believe were the ones who started marketing cereal as a ‘health food’ and targeted their marketing at families with children as a quick easy option. Technically you could eat whatever you want any whatever meal time and call it breakfast/lunch/dinner.

I completely understand where you're coming from! I find myself judging those who eat unhealthy foods and, even more so, those who serve them to children. This is a significant factor contributing to the obesity crisis we face today, and it’s alarming that the UK ranks among the countries with the highest obesity rates in Europe, obesity also is linked to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers, this puts a huge strain on the NHS. Why are people so sensitive about being criticised for not eating “ healthily”?! I can just see the anger this post will cause, it’s sad. It causes a huge problem in the society and frankly the government should put its foot down about it.

Of course it’s not just down to chocolate cereal, the issue extends far beyond that; it is the entire fast food and processed food culture. Schools often provide children with options like fish fingers and chicken nuggets, paired with desserts like brownies. Who really needs dessert for lunch every day? Growing children should be nourished with unprocessed foods, lots of vegetables, fiber-rich options, healthy fats, and clean proteins. This applies to adults too!

It's baffling to me how adults can regularly consume such unhealthy foods and then offer them to children without seeing the potential consequences. I witness this frequently with my children's friends, who are given crisps or chocolate several times a week at just five years old. It’s maddening to think about the long-term effects this will have on their health.
I know this will be criticised, but it’s a topic that deserves attention.

Ps
I remember when Jamie Oliver started with his healthy school meals, parents were climbing fences to give their children cheeseburgers and crisps. Totally insane.

What really frustrates me is how many parents claim their kids won’t eat certain foods, only wanting things like Coco Pops or other processed options they've been given. If children are raised on healthy foods, they will learn to enjoy them. At home, we make an effort to eat healthily, but we also allow for treats like homemade cakes or the occasional restaurant pizza.

However, I've noticed since my oldest started school, where they serve things like sausages, fish fingers, and fries, he’s been asking for those types of foods more frequently. It genuinely upsets me. I don’t give in to those requests; if he refuses to eat the healthy meals I prepare, he will have to go hungry. Eventually, he started eating what’s offered to him. Kids are generally quite good at regulating their appetite and won’t starve themselves. The key is not to offer them alternatives like fish fingers if they won’t eat their oven-baked salmon!
Looking forward to the anger this one will cause as well..

You'll be told you're wrong here, but I agree with you.
People who say my little Johnny only eats coco pops and would rather starve than eat something else..... Well little Johnny wasn't born with coco pops in his mouth, at some stage he was given that option. So, don't give the option.

Yep, now and again is the key, it seems to happen very frequently however. Why do you think we are in an obesity crisis?

@BacktoBeginnersFran yep I’ll be slaughtered for it. Ridiculous as they know I’m right. It is easier to give in and give them the processed crap they’re asking for so I understand people get defensive when they can’t be bothered to take the fight. Some heavily processed food is also cheaper than healthy food unless you can and want to cook, so the government should step in here and make sure people can afford to eat healthier food!

If you look around now in a normal primary school, there are a large percentage of children who are overweight. How can you want your children to be overweight already at such a young age?! It’s beyond me. This is down to what parents are feeding them, you parents are to blame!
Sorry this really is something I’m passionate about so this thread got me going.

@Superwomann I completely agree with you. Kids aren't born wanting only Cheesy Wotsits and Frosties. Most won't starve themselves to death if they are offered a wide variety of healthy, unprocessed foods and no alternatives. The trouble is, we're fighting big corporations with huge resources who only want to make a profit. Fast food and advertisements are everywhere. I hope the movement against UPFs gains ground and the government does whatever it can to help.

I think that this is correct in some cases, in other cases not so much. I was the youngest child in a family of normal eaters,
I was given the same average family foods as everyone else, my mum cooked from scratch and there was always veg etc with meals yet I was the one who wouldn’t eat a single one of those meals, I literally wouldn’t eat for days and days at a time and after years of this going on my mum got desperate and tried me on different less healthy things including chocolate cereal(this was in the 80’s so it isn’t a new thing ) . Back then it was just labelled as fussy eating but I suspect now it would be called ARFID, I lived off plain pasta and grated cheese/seperate bowl( they couldn’t be mixed) for years, ocassionally I would eat a cheese omelette, I wouldn’t eat at school because the smell of school dinners made me want to throw up and even on packed lunches you had to be in the school hall and smell it.

I can totally see how parents in this situation will give their child anything just so they will actually eat because while crisps or chocolate cereal might be unhealthy, not eating for days on end is also unhealthy and detrimental for a growing child.

It’s indeed very alarming and I’ve been told several times “ just let them have it, don’t be so boring, don’t be so strict”. We pretty much allow everything at home but not very frequently. At birthday parties they can eat what they get served for example.
We need more professionals like you out there advocating for healthy food and we need a new culture.
Japan totally changed its diet culture not that long ago and now employ dietists in school, this is something we should aim for.