Emma, this is why we don’t buy Fruitloops
Every time we go grocery shopping, Emma insists we buy “kid’s cereal” and every time we go grocery shopping I say no. She thinks I’m being “a meany.” Ok, so sometimes I relent, and sometimes when we are on a trip, it’s the only choice. But 90% of the time, I hold firm. There are several reasons, so let me give you a comparison of a Fruitloops breakfast with the breakfast she often eats (because it’s her favorite aside from ‘kid’s cereal): 1/2 cup Oatmeal w/ 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 banana & 1tbsp brown sugar. But I’m going to give FruitLoops the benefit of the doubt, I’m going to use the Smart Choice-marked Fruit Loops with 1/2 cup nonfat milk, the one that Marion Nestle writes about here: Food Politics » Smart Choices: 44% sugar calories! and I’ll give our breakfast the disadvantage of going organic. So when Emma gets older and can read this blog and is lamenting why we were so mean, at least she can read my rationalizations for that meanness:
Reason 1: COST!
FruitLoops, total 50cents
1 cup FruitLoops: 40cents, 4.00 for 8 1 cup serving box at Safeway
1/2 cup milk: 10cents on sale at safeway
Oatmeal, total: 26 cents
1/2 cup Oatmeal: 7 cents for organic at Bob’s Red Mill.
1/2 banana: 4 bananas/pound, $1.00/pound… 12cents
1/4 cup yogurt: 6cents (we make our own from local organic milk from Rainbow Grocery)
2 tsp brown sugar, 1 cent
WINNER: Oatmeal breakfast.
Reason 2: NUTRITION. (this one is hard to quantify as a total, so I’ll list some nutritional facts and tell you want I think 
, nutrition data is obtained from link above and NutritionData.com)
Fruitloops:
Total Calories: 15o
44% calories added sugar
1 g fat
< 1 g fiber
5 g protein
200 mg sodium
A 24% rda
C 25% rda
B6 24%
Iron 24% rda
Calcium 17% rda
Potassium 7%
Selenium 4%
Oatmeal Breakfast:
Total Calories: 191
16% calories added sugar
3g fat
7g fiber
10g protein
50mg sodium
A 2% rda
C 17% rda
B6 26%
Iron 12% rda
Calcium 18% rda
Potassium 21%
Selenium 22%
WINNER, Oatmeal breakfast: And here is why. While the oatmeal breakfast is a few more calories than a cup of Fruitloops, nearly a full half of the Fruit loop calories are from sugar! Over three times the amount of sugar than that of the oatmeal breakfast (and that’s because Emma insists on that much). Yet, the oatmeal breakfast has 10 times the fiber and twice the protein that the Frootloops breakfast and it does that with 1 quarter the amount of sodium. Though the oatmeal breakfast has more fat, fat isn’t bad (and this is a small amount) and in fact, this is good fat.
While the Frootloops beats the Oatmeal breakfast in a few vitamins and minerals (that Kelloggs has to artificially add to their cereal), overall the oatmeal breakfast has a large amount of others Frootloops doesn’t (because they didn’t add them) and with a balanced diet of real food (instead of processed) not only will Emma be getting the few vitamins and minerals manufacturers added, she’ll be getting the full range of vitamins, minerals and trace things we don’t even know about that manufacturers can’t add.
On top of this, the 1 bowl of Fruit loops is not particularly filling. She ALWAYS asks for more, so more sugar down the gullet (yes, more vitamins too, but still lacking in others and too much isn’t good either). In contrast, she eats her oatmeal breakfast and is quite satisfied (usually 
.
Reason 3: Ingredient list.
Frootloops:
sugar
corn flour
wheat flour
oat flour
oat fiber
soluble corn fiber
Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
Salt
Sodium ascorbate
Ascorbic acid
“natural” flavors
dyes number 40, 2, 6 and 1
tumeric color
zinc oxide
annotto color
added vitamins and minerals
Oatmeal breakfast:
Oats
Banana
Yogurt
Sugar
WINNER: Oatmeal breakfast. The oatmeal breakfast has 4 ingredients, all organic, all whole. The Frootloops >20 ingredients, many natural, none organic, some utterly artificial. Now, I’m not one to believe that artificial ingredients are _bad_ because they are manufactured, a priori. But I am one to believe that that, a priori, natural ingredients are probably better for you than artificial. As to organic vs. conventional, I don’t believe organic is necessarily more nutritious.. or I don’t care, but they do have less trace pesticides, are better for the environment, etc. So, if I’m eating healthier AND cheaper, AND I get the bonus of organic, well, it’s a no-brainer isn’t it?
Reason 4, Environment:
WINNER, Oatmeal breakfast: I’m not going to give you the data here, because I’m turning lazy. We buy our oats from ‘near-local,’ our milk from within 40 miles. Sugar and bananas are not local of course (I could change that to local peaches and honey and we’d be set then). All four ingredients are local and bulk and we make our own yogurt. So, put that in contrast to a double-packaged shipped box with ingredients from around the world from farms with heavy use of pesticides and petroleum. Well, oatmeal wins, even, I’m sure, if you add the energy cost of cooking it. By far.
Oh, but time you say Emma?!
Fruit Loops. 2 minutes getting the box and milk out, pouring it.
Oatmeal. 2 minutes microwaving it (yes, you CAN microwave old-fashioned oats and though not ‘perfect’ perfect, still pretty dang good, cut banana while cooking, another minute to serve, 1 minute to clean up the microwave… 4 minutes.
So, really, what’s 2 extra minutes in the morning to have a breakfast that has better nutrition and one half the cost and better for the environment?
So, if you are reading this Emma, and still complaining that I’m mean because I don’t let you have Fruit Loops, I’m hoping this helps.
Now, I just got to figure out how to explain to you that not letting you have a TV IN YOUR ROOM is not being mean.
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Nice break down. And you forgot to add that the oatmeal breakfast lasts longer too!
Instead of total denial of such foods, we found that allowing the unhealthy food on their birthday or a special holiday worked well. They get doughnuts for breakfast on their birthday, chocolate spread (Nutella) on their toast at Christmas, Frosted Flakes at Easter, etc. We had the same policy when I was a kid and I remember those delicious doughnut birthday breakfasts and feeling horrible and sick the rest of the morning. Still wanted those doughnuts every birthday though.
I agree. No TV in the bedroom. That’s a hard one to argue when many of her peers probably have TVs in their rooms.
Reply to JanetIf you figure out how to explain that not allowing your child to have a TV in his/her own room is not mean, my mother would like to know. My sister and I are in our 20s and still bring up that we were the “only” kids who did not have T.V.s in their rooms.
Reply to Katie BAgreed, we don’t totally deny the foods either. As I mentioned, I relent
. But also we have exceptions like vacations (we don’t have soda in the house, but can have it when going out for supper or vacations… that includes me 
and birthdays.
Well, Katie, I’ll have to think about that one
.
Reply to TreyI totally agree about the tv in the bedroom, and the healthy breakfasts. I was raised the same way (soda and sweet breakfast as treats) and for the most part have chosen the same as an adult. I had a fling with the soda when I met my husband, who still drinks it every day, but I think it was probably easier to give it up because it hadn’t always been there.
I hope you can convince her about the tv. For us, we just never had the money, and we lived somewhere that tvs in the bedrooms weren’t common, so I never asked. My cousin, though had a tv in her bedroom and sweet breakfast…and she seems ok, so maybe if you relent more regularly, things will still be ok.
I just think tv can be so isolating, and if we all have our own place to retreat to…well…
Anywho, keep us posted.
Reply to Lauren