The new guidelines require milk (plain or flavored), one serving of fruit/juice/vegetable, and one serving of grains (half of which must be whole grain). One serving of meat or meat alternate is optional.

Now, Kellogg’s and General Mills are both marketing “grab and go” packs, for breakfast in the classroom or cafeteria, as a complete USDA-approved school breakfast, when served with milk. One Kellogg’s breakfast pack contained multi-grain Frosted Flakes, a pack of Keebler Honey Grahams and a 4.23 oz. box of apple juice while a General Mills pack had low-sugar Cocoa Puffs, Mrs. Pure’s Animal Graham Minis, and a 4 oz. pouch of apple juice.

A child who eats either of these packs, served with chocolate milk (still the preferred milk choice in most schools), would consume over 12 teaspoons of sugar for breakfast –that’s more sugar than you’d find in a 12 ounce can of soda. The American Heart Association recommends that children consume no more than 3-to-4 teaspoons of sugar each day, while teen girls are supposed to have no more than five teaspoons and teen boys 8-to-9 teaspoons daily.

In addition, a newly published meta-analysis found that sugar increases the risk of heart disease, and raises blood pressure, independent of weight gain. So even trim children should avoid sugary breakfasts!

While most would agree that providing meals for food-insecure kids is crucial to their health, these high-sugar choices seem marginally better than skipping a meal. Even when fortified with whole grains, sugary breakfast fare like this would raise a child’s blood sugar precipitously, causing it to plummet within an hour or two. Eating breakfast like this regularly would encourage insulin resistance (the precursor to diabetes), and the daily blood sugar crash would make it hard for a child to concentrate and learn. Imagine the lucky teachers who get to teach these kids two hours after their sugar-laden, government approved breakfast!

While these specially formulated, lower sugar, whole-grain versions of products like Cocoa Puffs, Pop-Tarts, Lucky Charms, Apple Jacks, Nutri Grain bars, Reese’s Puffs and Frosted Flakes are only available to schools, children eating these versions will surely nag their parents to get the original versions in the store, which are even less healthy.

Margo Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy at Center for Science in the Public Interest, who was intimately involved in the development of the USDA school meal standards, is concerned about the development. “It troubles me that kids will think that Frosted Flakes are a healthy option, when they aren’t,” she said in a recent email.

And she’s not alone. Just last week, the Environmental Working Group’s investigation of kid’s cereals in the supermarket, found that most have an appalling nutritional profile.

I can only hope that the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council representatives, who advise school districts on their classroom breakfast programs, push for real food such as low-sugar yogurt, fresh fruit, whole grain rolls, low sugar whole grain muffins, low-fat cheese sticks, and plain low-fat milk. (Eggs and whole-grain cereals like oatmeal—with kid-friendly, healthy toppings—would also be fine choices. However none of this may be affordable fare).

But that’s just it. If we can’t afford to provide kids with real breakfast food in the classroom, or even in the cafeteria, maybe we need to go back to the drawing board—or commit to funding the program properly so that schools can serve health-promoting foods. I vote for the latter!