Are your kids eating camouflaged cookies for breakfast? Look again!

It is sad that the top selling children's breakfast cereals are still loaded with sugar. In fact, one cup of the most popular contain more sugar than a Twinkie! According to the Environmental Working Group, less than a quarter of these cereals even meet the proposed federal recommendations. In addition to sugar, these cereals are high in sodium and contain artificial flavors and colors.

PositiveTip: Parents: read the ingredient lists and food labels, do the simple math, and only place wholesome, healthy cereals on your table.

Added sugars bring sour side-effects, such as high triglycerides.

A substantial portion of Americans' calorie intake comes from added sugars. A recent study found that adults consume nearly one-sixth (15.8%) of their daily calories from sugar added to food. This is up from only 10.6% in 1977-78!

American Heart Association says sugary foods lead to obesity and heart disease.

The increasing epidemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease in America has prompted the American Heart Association (AHA) to issue "prudent" upper limits on the consumption of added sugar. These sweeteners include sugars and syrups added to foods during processing, preparation, or at the table. Today, Americans consume an average of 22.2 teaspoons per day (355 calories) of added sweetener--about one-third coming from soft drinks. The new AHA upper limit for added sugars is 5 teaspoons per day (80 calories) for the average adult woman, and 9 teaspoons per day (144 calories) for the average adult man.