The Public Health England says that Children are packing in so much sugar at breakfast that half their daily allowance has already been eaten before school.
Sugary cereals, juices and spreads are all damaging to health.
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey show that four- to 10-year-olds consume twice as much sugar as they should be and the problem starts at breakfast.
Public Health England’s top breakfast tips:
Add fruit – like sliced banana, raspberries or blueberries to plain cereals or porridge.
Drink lower-fat milk – like semi-skimmed, 1% or fully skimmed (but not for children under 5) with cereal.
Have wholegrain toast – instead of having white or a sugary cereal and use only a thin layer of toppings like jam
Master porridge oats – by mixing them with fruit and low fat (and low-sugar) yoghurt and leave it to soften overnight in the fridge
Bagels – go for lower-fat soft cheese.
Parents are encouraged by the officials to use an app that reveals the sugar content of food and drink.
A small bowl of sugary breakfast cereal contains around two cubes of sugar, spreading chocolate spread on toast racks up three sugar cubes and a glass of fruit juice has a whopping five cubes in it.
A child of age 2 needs less than 13 grams or 3 cubes per day,
age 3 – less than 15 grams or 4 cubes per day
age 4 to 6 – less than 19 grams or 5 cubes per day
age 7 to 10 years – less than 24 grams or 6 cubes per day