Walking down the breakfast aisle of the grocery store, a rainbow of boxes scrolls past. Mascots like Tony the Tiger and Lucky the Leprechaun jump out from each rectangle. The obvious conclusion is that a lot of these cereals are aimed at kids. Turn those boxes over, and you’ll find most of them are high in sugar, and, for some, extremely high. Improving public health isn’t a simple topic, but one common sense move is obvious: We should stop marketing sugary cereals to children.
Let’s start with the more obvious: A diet high in sugar is not healthy. The American Heart Association (AHA) has continually adjusted sugar intake recommendations downward. We’re slowly starting to realize that fats are not the biggest culprit. Sugar intake has been shown to contribute more to obesity than fats. Not only does sugar harm you in a direct way when eaten in excess, it leaves less room in your diet for healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products.
Eating lots of added sugar early in life is linked with obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Those are factors that lead to heart disease in both children and young adults.
The new AHA guidelines call for less than 25 grams of sugar per day for children between 2 and 18 years old. One serving of Lucky Charms, for example, contains 10 grams of sugar. That doesn’t leave much more room for sugar consumption in the rest of the day. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), most people eat more than 30 percent of the serving size listed on the nutrition facts label. That turns 10 grams into 13 grams. Marketing targeted at children aims to further increase that amount.
Let’s take a look at why marketing to kids is unethical. Lucky the Leprechaun, mascot of Lucky Charms, was created in 1963 to give the cereal a friendlier, more youthful face. The shape and color of the marshmallows changed to appeal to young consumers. These tactics were used because children aren’t won over by nutrition labels. They convince their parents to buy cereals that are the most fun, have the most color and excitement and have the catchiest theme songs.
Children are not persuaded by nutrition labels. They can’t be expected to understand them — especially when portion size doesn’t accurately reflect how much a typical person eats. Worse, kids are already eating two to three times the daily recommended amount of sugar, according to nutritionist Dawn Undurraga. Parents are further misled when thinking cereal is “part of a complete breakfast” when really that statement only means it shouldn’t be eaten alone. Cereal is no more part of a complete breakfast than a slice of cake is part of a complete dinner.
The Federal Trade Commission only acts to prevent commercial speech to enforce the law, e.g., preventing Camel cigarettes from marketing to children because kids aren’t old enough to buy cigarettes legally. Because Uncle Sam won’t step in to help, we should solve this sugar overdose by educating parents to the harmful effects of sugar and ask marketers to think and act ethically. Unfortunately, those are the only ways out of this Trix rabbit hole.
Stephan Chamberlin is a UF political science junior. His column comes out Tuesday and Thursday.
