A recent study brings out the truth behind those colorful boxes and happy-families-eating-breakfast ads. Cereals are not as healthy as we thought, at least not all of them. Especially those who specifically target young children are some of the most dangerous for the health.

Consumer Reports has conducted its first nutritional analysis of cereals marketed to children and found out which of the so-called healthy products are, in fact, as good as parents and kids think. The report, to be published in the November issue of the magazine, have analyzed 27 brands and only four of them managed to be qualified "Very Good," due to the relatively low contents of sugar and other nutritional facts.

For example, one of the unhealthiest brands turned out to be Kellogg's “Honey Smacks,” a box of so-called honey cereals that actually contains more sugar and corn syrup than honey, as well as “Post Golden Crisp” made by Kraft Foods Inc, each having as much sugar per three-quarter cup serving as a glazed doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts. The two products are more than 50 percent sugar (by weight), while nine others are at least 40 percent sugar.

The Consumer Reports study showed that, among the cereals that were analyzed, the most healthful, or better said, the least harmful brands are “Cheerios,” with three grams of fiber per serving and one gram of sugar,” Kix” and “Honey Nut Cheerios,” all made by General Mills, and “Life,” made by Pepsico Inc's Quaker Oats unit. They were qualified as “very good,” while Kellogg's “Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite Size” received a score of "good,” due its 12 grams of sugar per serving, but very low dosage of sodium and high amounts of fiber, about 6 grams. “Rice Krispies” was qualified as ”fair,” although it contains only 4 grams of sugar per serving. Instead, these breakfast goodies are high in sodium and have zero dietary fiber.

All these facts are not news to most of us, but the study does show a surprising fact: several cereals sold in the United States have higher levels of sugar and sodium than the same brands sold overseas. For example, Honey Smacks sold in Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland are about 40 percent sugar, compared with 55 percent sugar in the U.S. product.

The magazine also proved that what we call “serving “is not actually an accurate measure. Another study conducted by Consumer Reports on 91 youngsters ages 6 to 16 found that on average they poured themselves 50 percent to 65 percent more than the suggested serving size.

Meanwhile, Kellogg, one of the most popular cereal brands around the world gave a rather defensive and not at all reassuring statement, in the matter of its sugar-loaded products. A spokeswoman for the company stated in an e-mail, as quoted by Reuters: "To put Consumer Reports' information in perspective, yogurt contains more sugar and sodium than a serving of Honey Smacks cereal (25 grams of sugar vs. 15 grams of sugar in Honey Smacks)."