Sugary Treats or Cereal Offenders?

Oct. 1, 2008— -- How many parents would feed their children a glazed doughnut every morning for breakfast?

Most probably wouldn't consider that a healthy choice for a regular morning meal. But a new study found that some of the breakfast cereals popular with kids contain as much sugar -- or more -- as a glazed doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts.

"We wanted to know what the make-up was of cereals that were marketed to kids," said Gayle Williams, deputy health editor of Consumer Reports.

"We weren't surprised that we found sugar," said Williams. "I think we knew that was there, but I think we were surprised that we found so much sugar in so many cereals."

Consumer Reports took a look at the nutritional content for 27 cereals, including the amount of sugar, salt and fiber. Only four of the 27 cereals rated "Very Good." The best of all was Cheerios, followed by Kix, Life and Honey Nut Cheerios. Quaker Oats makes Life, and General Mills manufactures the rest of the top picks.

At the bottom of the list -- Corn Pops by Kellogg's. Also among the cereals that Consumer Reports rates "fair," at best, were Kellogg's Honey Smacks and Post's Golden Crisp cereal. Both of those choices have more than 50 percent sugar per serving size.

In a statement sent to ABC News, Kellogg's said it recently improved the nutritional content of a number of its cereals, including Froot Loops, Corn Pops, Rice Krispies, Cocoa Krispies and Apple Jacks. Also, cereals that don't meet the company's guidelines for children's nutrition -- such as Honey Smacks -- will no longer be marketed to kids under 12, as of 2009.

That's true for the marketing of Post cereals, as well.

A spokesman for Ralcorp, the parent company of Post, said that Golden Crisp is not advertised in magazines or on TV shows geared toward those under age 12.

Quaker, a unit of PepsiCo, responded to the report by pointing out the whole grains, B vitamins, calcium, zinc and iron in Quaker Life cereal and referred to the lower-rated Cap'n Crunch as a "balanced, low-fat breakfast option when paired with low-fat milk or a glass of 100 percent orange juice."

In a statement from General Mills, a spokesman said, "We're proud of the nutritional credentials of all our cereals," adding that the company's Big G kid cereals have at least 8 grams of whole grains per serving and will have 12 grams of sugar or less per serving by the end of the year.