We eat more oatmeal now than at any other time of the year (January is actually National Oatmeal Month) – maybe that’s why it looks like it’s popping up on menus all over the place.  Lately, it seems as if nearly every coffee place and fast food joint is jumping on the oatmeal bandwagon.  And why not?  It’s quick to make, it’s tasty, it’s comforting and it’s inexpensive. And, since it’s viewed as a health food, it’s a pretty easy sell.  But in looking at the nutritional value of some of these new products, oatmeal’s health halo is getting a tad tarnished.

Oatmeal’s reputation as a healthy food got a big boost about 20 years ago, when studies began demonstrating that oats (specifically, the bran) could help lower cholesterol levels.  In response, food manufacturers began trotting out oat bran-laden garlic bread and brownies, and oat bran-dusted potato chips and donuts.

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Kids and breakfast – it’s an uneasy alliance. On a typical school day, breakfast often gets shelved in favor of a few extra minutes of sleep, an “I’m not hungry” claim, or a waiting school bus. And when they do eat, parents pat themselves on the back because, ‘at least they ate something’ before their kids went charging out the door. But just because a belly is full, doesn’t mean the brain and muscles are getting the fuel they need.

Recently, Herbalife sponsored a survey* among parents of children aged 6-12, to get an idea of how many kids usually have breakfast at home in the morning before going off to school, and also to find out what they’re typically eating. Of the more than 1100 parents surveyed nationwide, 73 percent said that their kids ate breakfast at home every day before going off to school – while only about 5 percent reported that their kids always skipped it.

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