Mini-Wheats to the Rescue

What if improving your attention span was as easy as eating a certain kind of breakfast cereal? Well, according to Kellogg, the makers of Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal, it really is that simple! In a recent advertisement, they claim that kids who ate Mini-Wheats saw their attentiveness increase twenty percent.

The only problem with that claim, is that its almost completely false. According to the Federal Trade Commission, only about one in nine children saw a twenty percent increase in attentiveness. In addition, the study that Kellogg performed was comparing kids eating Mini-Wheats to kids who weren't eating anything for breakfast at all. This is far less impressive and downright misleading, which is why the FTC brought charges against the Kellogg company and it's misleading bit of advertisement.

"We tell consumers that they should deal with trusted national brands," saya FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz. "So it's especially important that America'sleading companies are more 'attentive' to the truthfulness of their ads and don't exaggerate the resultsof tests or research."

This case made me think about my own morning eating habits. More specifically, it made me realize that I usually eat nothing at all in the morning. Could improving my attention span be as simple as eating breakfast? According to the National Institutes of Health, "by eating breakfast you can increase your attention span and memory, have more energy, and feel less irritable and restless."

I can't remember a time where I actually enjoyed breakfast. My mom used to wake me up in the morning before school, and sit me at the kitchen table in front of a bowl of cereal. Sometimes it was Honey Nut Cheerios, and sometimes it was Fruity Pebbles, but every time I hated it. It wasn't the taste of the cereal which I disliked, in fact it all tasted quite good. I was simply never hungry in the morning, and being forced to eat a bowl of food when you aren't hungry is not a pleasant experience.

Now, years later, I still don't find myself hungry in the morning. However, I think it may be time to do the mature thing, and to start eating breakfast. Weather it be fruit, a pop tart or two, or the old standby of breakfast cereal, the benefits may certainly outweigh the unpleasantness. After all, I have nothing to lose, and only more attention span to gain!