June 5, 2012 Does Whole Foods Want to Harm Kids' Eating Habits?
Whole Foods wants your kids to eat cookies for breakfast.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think that Whole Foods would say they want your kids to eat cookies for breakfast. They'd say they want your kids to eat a healthy cereal.
That's why they contracted with Arrowhead Mills to make an Exclusive for Whole Foods whole grain cereal. They should have just contracted for the cookies. It would have been more honest, and a lot more helpful to parents.
Remember: every bite trains your kids' tiny taste buds. Every bite sets their expectations about what food should taste like too.
Did you know that cereals geared to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber and 60% more sodium than cereals targeted to adults?
These Chocolate filled Squares are no exception: 14 grams of sugar per serving. That's 3.5 teaspoons per cup.
A cup of Froot Loops has 12 grams of sugar. And half the calories:
- One cup of Chocolate Filled Squares=210 calories
- One cup of Froot Loops=110 calories
Read about "kid-friendly" cereals: A Spoonful of Sugar?
You'd be better off giving your kids actual cookies for breakfast.
4 Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip cookies deliver 13 grams of sugar.
And your kids will think of them as cookies, not as something healthy.
Whole Foods is hoping you suffer from a condition I call Selective Attention and the Feel Better Approach (SAAFBA).
If you don't know about SAAFBA read Virus Sufferers Choose Granola.
In a nutshell: Whole Foods is hoping you'll look at the fiber and protein and not at the sugar.
- Each serving of the Chocolate-Filled Cereal has 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.
- The cookies can't compete with only 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein.
But your kids can't taste the fiber and the protein. It's taste which shapes eating habits.
These squares taste like chocole chip cookies. Trust me. My husband and I scarfed down 1/2 a box on our way home from Whole Foods. They're dangerously addictive!
The more frequently you give your kids food that tastes like cookies, the more your kids will expect food to taste like cookies.
Feed your kids a steady diet of Chocolate Filled Squares cereal for breakfast and good luck getting them to eat broccoli for dinner. (Everything is related.)
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
Reader Comments (3)
You made this treat sound delicious! Now, I want to try it for dessert. Maybe Whole Foods could move it to the cookie/snack aisle? It would be a good cookie alternative for parties with young children. You know how chocolate chips melt and get smeared all over everything? If the chocolate is inside of the cookie, there's less mess potential.
People who would choose a breakfast cereal with "chocolate" in the title probably aren't concerned about nutrition.
We met some friends for breakfast at Panera (a chain bakery in case they don't have them in your area), and my son selected a gorgeous looking iced sugar cookie that was decorated like a flower. I thought about saying no and telling him that he needed to get something more breakfasty, but then I realized, what's the point of switching to a muffin or a cinnamon roll? It's probably a similar amount of sugar. Better that he just have a cookie for breakfast and know that it's a rare treat than have something else which is less special.
Amy,
Great story. Thanks for sharing it.
Dina