BY CARL WINTER
White Rock

Dear LAPS and NMPED School Nutrition Teams,

I am writing to express my concern and utter disappointment regarding the breakfast menu served to students at Piñon Elementary, specifically the inclusion of highly processed, sugary cereals such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Froot Loops.

It is alarming that food options designed to be addictive by major cereal manufacturers are treated as an acceptable way to start an elementary student’s school day. Serving high-glycemic, sugar-laden items directly conflicts with basic pediatric nutritional science:

• Glycemic Response and Behavioral Impact: A high-glycemic breakfast causes a rapid spike in blood glucose followed by reactive hypoglycemia (a sugar crash). Research published in Physiology & Behavior (Benton et al., 2007) demonstrates that 2 to 3 hours after consuming a low-glycemic breakfast, elementary children showed significantly better sustained attention, superior memory performance, and displayed fewer signs of frustration in the classroom compared to those eating high-glycemic meals. 
• Further clinical research (Cooper et al., 2011; Wesnes et al., 2003) confirms that high-glycemic breakfasts accelerate memory decay and reduce executive function response times during critical morning learning hours. I’m sure the teachers would appreciate better behaved students.
• The Sugar Reality: Even “specially formulated for schools” versions of these cereals contain around 6 grams of added sugar per serving. To put that into perspective, 6 grams of sugar is the equivalent of a child eating almost 1.5 Dum Dums suckers for breakfast. Considering that a primary school student is roughly a quarter of the weight of an adult, this ratio is equivalent to an adult starting their workday by eating 5-6 suckers for breakfast. No reasonable adult would consider that an acceptable, healthy meal, yet it is routinely served to our young children.

It is unacceptable that our schools are fostering sugar dependency in young children by serving what is effectively candy disguised as cereal. As the authorities responsible for child health and nutrition in our district and state, LAPS and NMPED should be setting a higher standard rather than deferring meal composition to corporate product lines.

I urge the district and state administration to immediately re-evaluate these breakfast offerings and replace high-glycemic, processed cereals with nutrient-dense, low-sugar alternatives that actually support student health and learning.