Jason and Travis Kelce as big-bruiser football players. But they’re also big-teddybear types. The Kelces are fronting a new cereal promo. Alas, a healthy eating advocate says the products ‘destroy kids’ metabolisms’…
Jason (left) and brother Travis Kelce promoting General Mills’ longtime-hit sugary cereals…
The Travis brothers made a high-profile appearance on the TODAY Show recently, in connection with the launch of their new ‘Kelce Mix’ cereal. It’s a blend of what they say are their childhood breakfast faves: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms and Reese’s Puffs.
Backlash ensues…
TODAY posted a clip of the Kelce segment on its website. And it went viral.
A number of nutrition and diet professionals have commented in the negative on the promotion. But it appears (from the number of views he’s had) that Calley Means’ X-platform rant has had the greatest impact.
Means is the Co-Author, with his healthy eating advocate and MD sister Casey, of Good Energy – The Surprising Connection between Metabolism and Limitless Health.
Calley retweeted the TODAY clip along with a blistering condemnation of the cereals. “Athletes should stop sponsoring food that destroys kids’ metabolic health,” Means wrote. “Some things are more important than money,”
The crux of the issue
The Means’ book is a detailed examination of the effects of sugary cereals and similar foods on growing kids. It’s especially poignant that ‘growing kids’ are the market those super-sweet products are aimed at.
The Means siblings contend that a wide range of diseases and condition plaguing humanity stem from the ‘destruction of kids’ metabolisms’. They claim depression, anxiety, infertility, insomnia, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer, ‘and many other health conditions that torture and shorten our lives’ are all the result of a compromised metabolism. And kids that eat unwisely develop this affliction, carrying it into adulthood, and for the rest of their lives.
Doctors, dieticians and nutritionists have for decades condemned sweet cereals, sugary confections and sugar-sweetened beverages as major contributors to childhood obesity and the ills it beings with it. And sugar, of course, is one of the three horsemen of the UPF Apocalypse: Sugar, Fat and Salt.
Jason Claps back
Jason Kelce was quick to respond to the Means post: “I grew up on these products[…], and I was a perfectly healthy fit child, because I enjoyed them in moderation and when on the go for quick meals when both my parents didn’t have time to cook,” Kelce posted on his X account.
“I appreciate you spreading information on what is healthy for people and kids, and I take the obesity epidemic as a country and for kids seriously, but there is also room to eat cereal and ice cream and candy in the right quantities in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle.”
My take
Kelce’s riposte sounds more like something composed by a General Mills marketing department scribe than by a football player. Nevertheless…
And I appreciate that the Kelce brother may, indeed, have eaten Lucky Charms in their early lives. I’ll bet they don’t eat them now, though. As star NFLers, they almost certainly have a whole corps of doctors, trainers and coaches behind them, telling them what to eat, how much, and when. And I’ll also bet the menu doesn’t include sugary breakfast cereal. More likely, something with protein, vitamins and minerals.
As I see it, Means is just saying what many, many others are thinking…
I also think it bears pointing out that TODAY often showcases healthy eating and other health-related stories. What a contrast their Kelce segment makes, to that otherwise socially responsible stance!
~ Maggie J.