Types

• American kids watch commercials featuring fast food, snacks, toys and video games on a daily basis. However, the commercials causing the most heated debate advertise sugary cereals.
  
  

Costs

• Cereal companies spend nearly $156 million each year just on TV advertising aimed at young people, according to a recent study from the Rudd Center fior Foor Policy and Obseity at Yale University.
  
  

Problem

• More than 1/3 of America's children are considered obese, according to the Rudd Center, and researchers say that TV advertising plays a role in how much kids eat and what they choose to eat.
  
  

Ingredients

• Sugary cereals contain 85 percent more sugar, 65 percent less fiber, and 60 percent more sodium than cereals pitched to adults, according to the Rudd Center's study. Many also contain artificial food dyes.
  
  

Scrutiny

• Time Magazine has reported that the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity is trying to expose "marketing tactics that make children clamor for a sugary start to the day, crispy calorie bombs that are often low in fiber and high in junky carbohydrates."