The TV ads look simply amazing: a woman sitting on the floor and eating her cereal and explaining how easy it is for her to stay healthy. The secret, you ask? Why, she simply stuffs herself with Kellogg’s so-called “SmartStart” cereal every morning and she is sure to stop heart-disease right on its tracks.

Well, not so fast. Although Kellogg’s is one of a limited number of top “Breakfast Brands” like Quaker, General Mills or Kashi, it still lags far behind the rest in terms of healthful ingredients and is one of the biggest users of artificial sweeteners and trans fats in its products. Read on to know what these harmful artificial ingredients are and how they could be doing the heart more harm than good …

First take a look at the Kellogg’s Smart Start Healthy Heart Cereal’s Ingredient List and Nutrition Information: (adapted from the official website):

Isn’t it amazing that after everything you’ve heard and read about trans fats being bad for you and even recent news that High Fructose Corn Syrup being bad for your arteries, Kellogg’s continues to thumb its nose at you and other consumers and includes these ingredients in their high profile products. Note the presence of partially-hydrogenated soybean oil in the oat clusters and remember 0g trans-fat simply means that trans fats are between 0 and 0.5g. More than one serving a day and you are already increasing your risk for the heart-problems associated with trans fat consumption.

Also, while the good news is that SmartStart contains a very good fiber profile (5g total with both soluble and insoluble parts) and a healthy quantity (7g) of protein, watch out for the insulin rush as 17g of sugar invade your bloodstream from just one serving. It’s no surprise really since we have sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, molasses, honey, malt, corn syrup, polydextrose (you didn’t know that was a sweetener, now, did you?!), cinnamon and vanilla-flavor (count them - that’s 9!) all contributing to the product’s sweetness! Since when did we need this kind of a tongue-melter first thing in the morning?

It’s high time Kellogg’s stopped taking consumers for granted. It’s no surprise that all the women featured in the SmartStart website are holding onto their hearts (for dear life, I presume!) Fitness Mantra wishes their hearts the best of luck. If they are “Smart”, they will “Start” by dumping this cereal and grabbing some good old fashioned oatmeal or Cheerios and top it with a few nuts and berries. Now that is a breakfast that will actually do your heart some good!

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Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

An interesting news item titled “Kids are still obese, despite nutrition education” highlights the growing problem of childhood obesity in spite of major efforts from the government to spread the good word of healthy eating and activity. For example, this year alone the United States Federal Government will spend about $1 billion on nutrition education in the form of food packs, videos, flyers and lessons. But the kids just keep getting bigger …

The biggest hurdle many educators face is the inability to “get across” to young minds whose primary focus seems to be in getting the next sugar fix!

Leticia Jenkins’s one of the bravest teachers in America — not because she gave her seventh and eighth graders 30 sharp knives to chop tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and limes for a lesson on salsa and nutrition, but because she understands the futility of what she is trying to do.

“Oh, it’s so hard, because at the end of the day sometimes I take a moment, I think gosh, I did all this and we still see them across the street picking up the doughnuts and the coffee drinks,” she said.

As always, parents are the number one influence on a child’s diet (hey, parents always get blamed, don’t they!):

“If the mother is eating Cheetos and white bread, the fetus will be born with those taste buds. If the mother is eating carrots and oatmeal the child will be born with those taste buds,” said Dr. Robert Trevino, at the Social and Health Research Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Most kids learn what tastes good and what tastes nasty by their 10th birthdays. “If we don’t reach a child before they get to puberty, it’s going to be very tough, very difficult, to change their eating behavior,” said Trevino.

Read the entire article to figure out why even the best efforts are failing and what might work. and once done, read on for more top health and fitness stories from this past week:

1. Exercise may help delay inflammation: A study may offer insight into whether regular exercise can fend off the onset of heart disease or diabetes, University of Illinois researchers said.
2. Black, White Women Differ on Dieting: Overweight or obese white American women are more likely than their black peers to ask for dieting assistance, such as counseling from a medical professional, a doctor’s prescription, membership in a weight-loss group, or advice from a trainer.
3. Heavy moms who shed pounds still have big babies: Overweight women who lost weight before their second pregnancy did not eliminate their increased odds of having an oversized newborn. This, the study authors speculate, could mean that a woman’s excess pounds have a lasting effect on subsequent pregnancies …
4. Sandwiches ‘rival crisps on salt’: Pre-packed sandwiches may contain as much salt as several bags of crisps, a study suggests.
5. Organic food ‘better’ for heart: Organic fruit and vegetables may be better for you than conventionally grown crops, US research suggests.
6. Why kids are still obese: The federal government will spend more than $1 billion this year on nutrition education - fresh carrot and celery snacks, but a review of dozens of studies shows that these programs almost never change the way kids eat.
7. Chocolate ‘lowers’ blood pressure: A mouthful of dark chocolate each day could reduce blood pressure, cutting the risk of stroke, research suggests.
8. Company to Charge ‘Unhealthy’ Workers More for Insurance: Starting in 2009, Clarian will begin charging workers extra for insurance if they let health risks such as smoking, obesity or high cholesterol go unchecked.
9. Sanofi-Aventis Drops Application for Drug: Sanofi-Aventis withdrew its application to gain federal approval for a weight loss drug on Friday after a meeting at which government advisers rejected the treatment on safety grounds.
10. Ulcer surgery may help treat obesity: An old ulcer operation is getting new attention as a possible alternative obesity surgery: a quick snip of a nerve that helps control hunger.
11. Most diets work about the same: Looking for that perfect diet? Researchers have bad news — all diets have just about the same result, and none of them are great, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
12. Weight Loss with Dietary Counseling Fizzles Over Time: Dietary counseling produces modest weight loss, but the effect disappears within about five years, a meta-analysis showed.

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Have a great weekend!

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