Children's breakfast cereals are getting more unhealthy

Your kids may be starting their day with more than a spoonful of sugar

Child eating an unhealthy breakfast cereal against a red backdrop decorated with colorful Fruit Loops, an American flag, and a spoon filled with sugar cubes
Children's breakfast cereal has more sugar, sodium and fat than it did over a decade ago
(Image credit: Marian Femenias-Moratinos / Getty Images)

American breakfast cereals, a centerpiece of children's morning consumption, have steadily become unhealthier. As a result, kids have been exposed to detrimental amounts of sugar, sodium and fat, which could contribute to long-term health problems. And this is not the first time children's food has had its healthiness questioned.

The cereality

The study analyzed more than 1,000 cereals marketed toward children ages 5 to 12 years and found a 34% increase in fat content, a 32% increase in sodium content and an 11% increase in sugar during the 13-year span. The trend shows a "potential prioritization of taste over nutritional quality in product development," said the study. "It reinforces my belief that the food marketplace is very confusing, and that's not by accident," Dr. Josephine Connolly-Schoonen, the executive director of the nutrition division at Stony Brook Medicine, said to The New York Times. The food industry "engineers the confusion."

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Ultraprocessed foods "laden with these additives have been associated with a myriad of negative health consequences, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and premature death," said CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen. Consuming high levels of sodium during childhood has been "linked to elevated blood pressure and other long-term health concerns," said Newsweek. "Protein, on the other hand, is essential for children because it supports growth, builds muscles and helps develop a strong immune system."

Beyond the bowl

Approximately a third of all American children eat cereal each morning, with it being the most common breakfast food for 5- to 12-year-olds, according to an analysis by the Department of Agriculture. Cereal is usually eaten alone without nutrient-dense fruit or protein.

As childhood nutrition can set the tone for future health problems and habits, it's recommended to look for cereal labels that say 100% whole grain. It's also ideal to serve cereals that have "added sugar of less than nine grams per serving," said Wen. This is because 10 grams per serving would "already be 20% of the entire amount of added sugar someone is recommended to consume a day" in a 2000-calorie diet.

Breakfast cereal is not the only child-focused food that is proving to be less healthy than it might seem. In 2024, an analysis found that 60% of food marketed to infants and toddlers failed to reach nutritional standards set by the World Health Organization.

These findings come at a time when Americans have become more concerned about the safety of their food, in large part thanks to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his "Make America Healthy Again" initiative. "We are betraying our children by letting [food] industries poison them," Kennedy said at a rally in November 2024. He has since called for the banning of certain synthetic food dyes and ultraprocessed foods. While many agree with his food reform measures, Kennedy has also been known to promote baseless claims such as vaccines causing autism and the healthfulness of drinking raw milk.

Devika Rao, The Week US

 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.