Recently the Anchorage Daily News ran a Scripps article about kids and high sugar cereals. "A typical serving of Cocoa Puffs is the equivalent of downing a 50-gram bag of Hershey's Kisses," according to author Andre Picard. The article also takes on reduced-sugar cereals like "1/3 less sugar" Frosted Flakes.
So, how does the district's breakfast program measure up? Today I visited Fairview Elementary to see just what kids are eating for breakfast. Low-fat milk, orange juice, low-fat yogurt and graham crackers were among the choices. I was late, so the cereal selection was down to Honey-Nut Cheerios and "less sugar" Frosted Flakes. I dug in the trash for the labels, and both of these meet the district's nutrition requirements, and the server says the kids love them. But they also love the Cocoa Puffs; apparently you have to get there early to get the Cocoa Puffs --- they run out.
By itself, Cocoa Puffs doesn't meet the nutrition guidelines --- it has 46% sugar by weight. That's 11% higher than the requirement. So why are we still serving Cocoa Puffs? It’s because Student Nutrition calculates nutrition based on the entire week's offering---not just one item at a time.
Student Nutrition has all of the stats on the food online, but they’re still working to add info about sugar content. Here’s what they have to say about the cereal. "The cereal with the highest sugar content, Cap'n Crunch, has been eliminated. Cocoa Puffs will be phased out as they are used and stock runs out. Please be assured that we follow strict national guidelines for quality, nutrition and portion control." I also learned that chocolate milk is no longer served at breakfast and portion size is strictly controlled.
I did chat with several kids who love the breakfast --- with or without the Cocoa Puffs. Some said they eat cereal every day --- except every-other-week when they have the 452 calorie frosted cinnamon rolls.
One girl claimed her favorite is the breakfast pizza ---- crust with great protein items on the top -- like eggs, sausage and cheese. All that brain food (protein) for 220 calories! I'll take a slice!
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