NextThe Marketing of Weetbix in New Zealand
Here is the direct result of faulty dietary guidelines
Weetbix has a five star health rating, based on the low fat content of the food. The milk supplied is "lite" on the basis that low fat milk is more healthy. Both those ideas are wrong. The breakfast has little nutritional value.
BREAKFAST CLUB
The Government will provide $9.5 million over five years to help fund the extension of Sanitarium and Fonterra's KickStart breakfast programme. The companies will cover the rest of the cost between them.
They will deliver milk and Weet-Bix to each school and the local communities will be expected to organise the rest.
The programme is currently available to all decile 1 to 4 schools two days a week. This will increase to five days a week in term 3 and, of 2014, all schools will be eligible.
The Government will not give money to any other breakfast in schools programmes.
Note that this is a low fat breakfast.
This breakfast is "sold" as healthy. It's not healthy. The only virtue of this breakfast is that it's cheap.
Cereal does not have the nutritional value children need.
Children should be drinking whole milk, not low fat milk.
There is no scientific validation of the low fat diet as being healthy. To the contrary, high levels of carbohydrates over time cause metabolic diseases that have become epidemic since the low fat high carbohydrate diet was introduced.
Note that the government have agreed NOT to fund any other breakfast in schools programme. Why? Because the government believes that the programme is good for their political future, and they are "protecting" the companies which began this initiative.
2 years after I wrote this page I find this 2017 video from TV One. Note the All Blacks are serving breakfast, they are using low fat milk, and putting LOTS of sugar on the weet-bix. (Pouring hot water on the sugar, in the video.)
