Child nutrition: the shocking salt and sugar content of five of childrens' favourite cereals...

Although many minors are starting their day with a bowl of breakfast cereal, this favoured (and often overeaten) food source commonly contains a substantial amount of salt and/or sugar per portion - the latter largely linked to obesity, dental decay and type 2 diabetes.

 In order to highlight how much one standard 30g serving of cereal can contain, we're taking a closer look at five of kids' favourites...

 1. Frosties: although tots' may be tempted by the talking tiger, the frosted flakes that he promotes are far from 'great' - particularly when they contain a staggering 11g of the sweet stuff and 0.25g of salt per serving.

 2. Chocolate coco pops: coco and friends may claim to make breakfast more fun, but they also make morning meals far sweeter than they should be - this chocolatey concoction contains a colossal 9.0g of sugar and 0.23g of salt per serving.

 3. Crunchy nut cornflakes: nuts may well make nutritious nibbles, but not when they're coated in honey - this crunchy corn and nut combo contains a shocking 11g of sugar and 0.23g of salt per serving.

 4. Kellogg's krave milk chocolate cereal: although these chocolate filled favourites may tickle our tot's taste buds, they also contain 8.4g of sugar and 0.29g of salt per serving making them a far from sensible way to start the day.

 5. Nestle's cookie crisp: with its chocolate based biscuits and captivating character, it should come as no surprise that this child targeted breakfast cereal is bursting with 8.0g of sugar and 0.23g of salt per serving.

 Final thought: although wholewheat cereals such as weetabix (sweetened with age appropriate milk and/or fruit) can create a beneficial breakfast, it's important to ensure that an infant's daily salt and sugar intake doesn't exceed the following recommendations...

 1.Sugar...
  • children aged 4-6: 19g sugar
  • children aged 7-10: 24g sugar
  • children aged 11 and over: 30g sugar
2.Salt...
  • babies under 1: less than 1g of salt
  • children aged 1-3: 2g salt
  • children aged 4-6: 3g salt
  • children aged 7-10: 5g salt
  • children aged 11 and over: 6g salt.

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