INTRODUCTION

Hi Mums and Dads,

I'm Alyson Greenhalgh-Ball, a registered dietitian and Head of Nutrition here at Kellogg's. I'm also a busy mum, so I know just how hectic mornings can be. I hear from lots of parents who want to give their family the best start to the day, but with so many different messages, it's hard to know what to believe.

So let me give you the facts about our new high fibre cereal, Coco Pops™ Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal, then you can make your mind up for yourself.

FIBRE

HIGH IN FIBRE

You may have heard that eight out of ten of us¹ aren't eating enough fibre , but did you know that eight out of ten school children² don't get enough either? So everyone in the family should be making an effort to try and increase their fibre intake. Easier said than done, you may think. However a few small changes like starting the day with a tasty bowl of high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal may help you on your way.

FIBRE IS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN. BUT HOW MUCH?

As most dietitians and nutritionists agree, a good way to judge how many grams of fibre your child needs is to add five to their age, e.g. a five year old needs approximately 10g of fibre per day, and a six year old needs 11g. So as your child's age increase, so does their fibre needs.

By encouraging your children to eat a wide variety of foods that are rich in fibre, you help them to set up good eating habits for life.

WHAT DOES FIBRE DO?

Fibre is usually found in plants – fruit, vegetables, grains, in the case of high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal it comes from wheat and oats.

Fibre can work in a number of different ways – it can help to keep us feeling full and satisfied. Plus it can help improve digestion by helping food move through the gut, and can also provide a food source for the friendly bacteria that live in the lower gut.

TIPS FOR INCREASING YOUR FAMILY’S FIBRE INTAKE AT OTHER TIMES OF THE DAY

• Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Fresh is preferable, but frozen, dried, canned (in natural juice) and a glass of juice all count. Try adding them to dishes so that the kids won't notice, or add them in a fun way such as fruit on skewers.
• Wash fruit and vegetables well and leave skins on for added fibre (e.g. don't peel potatoes before boiling).
• Eat more wholegrain or granary bread, whole grain pasta and brown rice.
• Try to get your family to eat more beans, pulses and lentils – they're great in soups, salads and casseroles.

¹ Henderson L & Gregory J (2003). The National Diet and Nutrition Survey: adults aged 19-64 years

² Gregory et al (2000) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Young people aged 4 to 18 years. The Stationery Office. London.

SUGAR

SUGAR IN PERSPECTIVE

Did you know that breakfast cereal contributes only 5% of the sugar in the diet of the UK¹, and only 3.6% of the sugar purchased in the nation's shopping basket².

A 30g bowl of Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal has 9% of the GDA for sugar – and at the same time, the benefits of milk, six essential B vitamins, vitamin D, and iron and calcium. A great solution for busy parents – knowing there will be no rumbling tummies leaving the house in the morning.

You can clearly see how much sugar is in a 30g portion of high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal by checking the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) on the front of the pack. Whilst we are all different and our requirements vary, it is important for food labelling that we use one figure (that applies to the majority of the population) so you can make comparisons between different products.

The figure on the front of the pack is based on a GDA of sugar being 90g (this is a maximum, not a target) – suitable for the general population. The GDA for children (5-10years old) is not actually much less – this is because although children are smaller, they are active and growing, therefore their GDA for sugar is 85g. Because this is so similar to the one for 'all of the population' as used on the front of the pack, this also works out to be 9%GDA for children (5-10years old). So in this case, the figure on the front of the pack, although for the 'general population', works out to be the same for a 5-10year old as well.

¹ Bates B et al (2010) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Headline results from Year 1 of the rolling programme (2008/9) see http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/ndnsreport0809year1results.pdf

² Taylor Nelson and Sofres (TNS) World Panel Nutrition Service 2009

³ FAO/WHO (1998). Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition. Paper No. 56

⁴ Palou et al (2009) Central aspects of sugars in human nutrition, Obesity Reviews 10 s1 pp1-58

⁵ Sigrid A Gibson (2000) Breakfast cereal consumption in young children: associations with non-milk extrinsic sugars and caries experience: further analysis of data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey of children aged 1.5±4.5 years, Public Health Nutrition: 3(2), 227±232

⁶ De La Hunty, A and Ashwell, M (2007), Are people who regularly eat breakfast cereals slimmer than those who don't? A systematic review of the evidence. Nutrition Bulletin, Vol 32, pp 119 – 129

⁷ House of Commons Health Committee Report on Obesity

VITS AND MINERALS

Vitamins and minerals are involved in so many processes that take place in the body, from helping to build strong bones to helping oxygen get carried around in your blood, and unlocking the energy from the food we eat.

Each 30g bowl of Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal provides:

• Six B vitamins (25% RDA)
• Vitamin D (25% RDA)
• Iron (17% RDA)
• Calcium (17% RDA) – and that's without milk!

All of these vitamins and minerals are important for ensuring that our bodies work properly. They're also the key nutrients we know children in the UK don't get enough of¹.

What does RDA stand for?

Everyone is a different size and everyone has different needs, but the RDA – Recommended Daily Amount is based upon what the majority of the population will need for optimal health. And breakfast cereal has a really important role in providing these nutrients to the UK population. For example children in the UK generally don't get enough iron, so it's great to know that a bowl of breakfast cereal provides 17% RDA. And in fact, breakfast cereal is the number one source of iron for kids in the UK¹.

So what do these vitamins and minerals do?

B VITAMINS

• Vitamins B1, B2 and niacin are essential B vitamins, which help the body to release energy from carbohydrates
• Folic acid, another B-group vitamin is essential for growing cells and healthy blood
• Vitamin B12 is important for a healthy nervous system and to help blood cells grow and develop
• Vitamin B6 helps the body to digest protein and is needed for healthy nerves, blood and skin

VITAMIN D

• This helps calcium to be absorbed and helps to builds strong bones
• It also helps to maintain a healthy immune system
• Our body can make vitamin D from sunlight, but since we aren't able to be outdoors as much as we'd like — and should always protect our skin from the sun — a lot of people in the UK don't get enough vitamin D.

IRON

• Iron is important for making healthy red blood cells, which help to carry oxygen around the body
• It is especially important for young children, teenagers and women. Getting enough iron will help you to avoid feeling weak, washed out or tired.

CALCIUM

• This is important for bone growth – it helps to build strong bones
• Our body cannot make calcium by itself, we need to get it from the food we eat
• Calcium is especially important during childhood and teenage years when bones are growing, it helps to protect against osteoporosis later in life.

¹ Gregory J & Lowe S (2000) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged 4-18 years.

SKIPPING BREAKFAST

As a parent, we don't need to tell you how difficult it can be to get children to eat breakfast in the morning. Whatever the reason, whether it's because there's no time or the children simply aren't hungry, the fact is one in six children unfortunately miss breakfast everyday¹. And as a result children are spending £646m on a sweet shop breakfast of meat snacks, crisps and fizzy drinks on the way to school in the morning².

When children skip breakfast, they miss out on important nutrients such as B vitamins and iron, and studies have shown that they don't 'make up' for these nutrients during the rest of the day³. And we don't want the distraction of hunger getting in the way of concentration!

41% of milk in the UK is consumed with breakfast cereal¹, so turning the milk chocolatey with high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal is a great way to ensure children are getting calcium.

We also know people who eat breakfast tend to perform better in the morning than those who don't. When your children wake up, they’ve probably been 10–12 hours overnight without food, their energy reserves are low and their body, and perhaps more importantly their brain, needs fuel.

The food developers and nutritionists at Kellogg's have spent more than 2 years concentrating on every aspect of Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal to ensure that it satisfies children, as well as parents. The engaging wheel shape makes eating a high fibre breakfast cereal fun, the chocolatey Coco taste means there will be no milk left at the bottom of the bowel, and in the colder months, adding hot milk makes a tasty winter warmer. With high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal on hand, there'll be no chance of a missed breakfast!

¹ Taylor Nelson and Sofres (TNS) Family Food Panel 2003

² A Look at Kids' Bad Breakfast Habits in 21st Century Britain. A report commissioned by Kellogg's. 2009

³ Gibson & O'Sullivan (1995) Breakfast cereal consumption patterns and nutrient intakes in British schoolchildren. J Roy Soc Health 115:366-370

GDAs

GDA stands for Guideline Daily Amount. To help make life easy, most of your favourite foods and drinks have a GDA clearly printed on their packaging. At a glance you can instantly find out how many calories, sugar, fat, saturates and salt are in what you're about to eat.

They're called guidelines, because that's exactly what they are – a guide, not a target. And while it's okay to stay pretty close to the GDAs for calories, we should try to eat no more than the recommended GDA for sugars, fat, saturates and salt.

All the Guideline Daily Amounts that you'll find on the front of pack are based on the recommendations for an average person with an average activity level. But, of course, bigger people will need more, as will active people and smaller people less.

To keep things simple, however, rather than using two sets of figures on every label, we use a GDA that's based on the average person, which also makes it consistent when comparing products, and because no products are eaten 'only' by children.

But what about children, surely they must need a lot less?
Children do have different needs to adults, so they have different GDAs too. But not as different as you might think. Because they are active, and also growing, they are not vastly different to the 'average person' used on the front of the pack.

This table below shows the GDAs for a child as well as for an average person, as used on the front of the pack (remember, these are a guideline, not a target):

MADE WITH WHOLGRAIN

'Wholegrain' means exactly that – the whole of the grain. All the 'components' of the piece of grain are there – most importantly the outer layer – which is where the fibre is. Often in food, this important component is removed. Because of the benefits fibre provides, we’ve made sure wholegrains are used in the recipe of new high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal. The 'wholegrains' that are in Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal are whole wheat and also whole oats.

But not all wholegrain foods are high in fibre, so it's good to check the label. (High fibre is more that 6g per 100g fibre)

SALT

Generally people in the UK eat too much salt, so it's important to monitor our salt intake. But did you know that breakfast cereal make only a very small contribution at just 2% of the salt in the nation's diet¹? And we have taken particular care with the Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal recipe – a quick glance at the front of the pack will tell you that a 30g bowl of high fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal has 0.1g of salt.

But how much should we have?
This depends upon age, as shown below:

The '11 and over' value is used on the front of the pack to work out the GDA – showing that a 30g bowl of Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal provides 2% of the GDA for salt. This figure is used across all of Kellogg’s products, as this represents the majority of the consumers and also, so that all products are using the same GDA, helping you to accurately compare between products.

If you calculate how much of the salt GDA this is for the other age groups, you will see that this ends up being 2%GDA again for 7-10 year olds, and 3%GDA for 4-6 year olds.

1 Bates B et al (2010) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Headline results from Year 1 of the rolling programme (2008/9) see http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/ndnsreport0809year1results.pdf

FAT

Fat provides energy and helps to carry fat-soluble vitamins; it also provides the essential fatty acids our body can't make for itself. But while fat does have a role in the diets of you and your children, you need to be wary of saturated fat because of its association with heart disease. Fat is also calorie dense, which means it has a lot of calories per gram (9 calories per gram compared to 4 per gram for carbohydrates).

High fibre Choc 'N' Roll™ cereal has less than 3% fat (at just 2% fat), which means that it is 'low in fat' and less than 1.5% saturated fat (0.7%) – so it's classified as 'low in saturated fat' as well. A low fat way to get a great chocolatey taste!