Why do minorities seem to prefer these sweet treats? Researchers at Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity found that television ads marketing these sweetened health-killers toward children disproportionately affected minority families’ decisions to buy those products.

For the study, researchers used data collected by the Nielsen Company, a market research group, that contained information about which demographic groups bought what products. (Grocery shoppers recorded their purchases then submitted that information, as well as income and education level, to Nielsen.) Scientists then compared the purchasing data with information about cereal marketing and nutrition collected by a previous Rudd Center study.

Findings showed cereals targeting kids were 13 times more likely to be purchased than those not marketed at all. In addition, sweetened kiddy cereals were three times more likely to be bought than those marketed only to adults. And cereals marketed to families as a whole were 10 times more likely to sell than those that weren’t.

Why minorities take the bait goes back to TV viewing habits, according to researchers. African-American families watch 50 to 60 percent more TV than white families. And once the kiddies get a glimpse of the candied cereals, they don’t stop clamoring for them until Mom and Dad give in and make a purchase.

But instead of focusing on the negative, Rudd researchers looked on the bright side: They hope this research will push manufacturers to market nutritious cereals and encourage kids to go for the healthy stuff instead of the sugar-coated crunchy whatchamacallits.

Dead set on saying “no weigh” to bad breakfast choices? Click here to learn more about the best breakfasts to start a healthy day.