We eat like hobbits in this house, complete with a first and second breakfast—cereal to start, and oatmeal, sometimes with fruit, a little later.

Cheerios and oats are pretty healthy, I reckon, but sometimes I wonder if Tommy is going to eventually “rebel” as I did. I remember it clearly: being around 8 years old, on the morning of a sleep-over at a friend’s house, dumping sugar on top of my Frosted Flakes. Talk about a sugar overload!

Perhaps I was compensating. By the time I was of sugary-cereal-eating-age, my mother had hit her stride in becoming an ardent fan of health food. My mom had a good sense of humor, though: one Christmas, I got a wrapped box of Smurf Berry Crunch.

By now, I think most people suspect that a lot of children’s cereal is chockfull of sugar—more like vitamin-fortified candy than anything else. Perhaps unsurprisingly, last April’s issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, had research showing that cereal marketed to children has more sugar and sodium than fiber and protein—and the majority of children’s cereals failed to meet national nutrition standards, especially concerning sugar content.

Still, we’ve always been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, more research from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association shows that regular cereal consumption has been linked to healthy body mass indices in adolescent girls.

So, we know that cereal is a breakfast must-have, and that most cereal marketed to children is full of things we’re supposed to avoid. What’s the solution? Well, for one, know what you’re looking for before you stare down a wall of cereal boxes at the store.

Crack the label code
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, you should avoid cereal that:

• has over 5 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fat per serving
• has hydrogenated oils, dyes, artificial colors and preservatives
• lists any of the following in the first four ingredients: sugar, high fructose corn syrup, malt syrup, organic or evaporated cane juice and brown sugar.

Instead, look for cereal that has:

• over 5 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein per serving
• high-fiber grains, like barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, rye and whole wheat
• at least 25 percent of the recommended dietary allowance of vitamins and minerals

A word on vitamins: many of them are actually sprayed onto the cereal and fall off into the milk, so drink up!

And a word on high fructose corn syrup (HFCS): No doubt you’ve seen ads from the Corn Refiners Association declaring HFCS to be natural and beneficial to our diets when consumed in moderation. However, studies (like one released last year that linked HFCS to diabetes) show that Americans consume too much HFCS. Because the ingredient is so ubiquitous, it’s difficult to consume it in moderation, as Time Magazine reported last month in fact, the article notes, Americans ate 60 pounds of the stuff per capita in 2006.

Something else to consider: earlier this year, a Washington Post article noted that the production of HFCS—like all products that come from crops grown as a monoculture—is environmentally detrimental.

What is your child eating?
According to market shares during a 52-week period, the most popular cereal in the U.S. is General Mills’ Cheerios, followed by Kellogg’s Special K, Post’s Honey Bunches of Oats, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats.

How do some of these brands measure up? In each serving, which is one cup, Frosted Flakes has 11 grams of sugar and 9 grams of fat; sugar is its second ingredient, followed by malt flavoring and HFCS.

Raisin Bran, another top seller for Kellogg’s, only has 1.5 grams of fat per serving—but 19 grams of sugar. Sugar is the fourth ingredient, while HFCS is fifth and malt flavoring, seventh.

Kellogg’s Special K fares better: 4 grams of sugar and .5 grams of fat per serving, though sugar is the third ingredient (HFCS is the sixth).

Cinnamon Toast Crunch—General Mills’ second most popular brand—has 10 grams of sugar, 3 grams of fat and contains sugar as the second ingredient (but it’s free of HFCS). Cheerios is General Mills’ top seller, and is frequently recommended as a first solid food snack for children—probably because, despite the fact that sugar is third on the ingredient list, it only has 1 gram of sugar per serving and 2 grams of fat.

Of course, you don’t have to eat cereal to get a balanced start to your day. In fact, any meal—as long as it’s nutritious—fits the breakfast bill. Older children can take high-fiber muffins and fruit smoothies (with no sugar added) with them as they dash out the door to school. On a morning when you have time to stand in front of the stove, cooking oats from scratch is a real treat; steel-cut oats have a particularly nice texture.

Or try bulgur, a protein- and fiber-packed cereal made from wheat. Here’s a recipe my dear mom adapted from “The Natural Healing Cookbook”, now out-of-print.

Bulgur Breakfast (Serves 2)

• 3 cups bulgur
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 unpeeled apple, chopped
• 1/4 cup raisins
• dash cinnamon

Place ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve warm. Enjoy!