High fiber foods help your child's digestion and they are filling enough to reduce his chances of overeating, according to KidsHealth, a website of the Nemours Foundation. They can also help protect your child against gut cancers, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease, says KidsHealth. Since nutrition takes a backseat to taste for most kids, chances are you won't see your child eagerly downing prunes or a bowl of bland fiber-flake cereal. However, there are ways to make a fiber-rich diet more appealing to a younger eater.
Whole Grain Bread
White bread has had the fiber stripped out of it but whole grain bread still packs a healthy punch. Two slices of whole wheat bread are equivalent to about 2.8g of fiber, says pediatric health website AskDrSears.com. Until age 15, most kids need enough daily grams of fiber to equal their age plus 5---so an 8-year-old would need to eat about 12g of fiber a day, and making some whole-grain French toast or a whole-grain sandwich is an easy way to help her reach that goal.
Beans
Almost all forms of beans contain lots of fiber, but some are particularly rich in it. According to KidsHealth, ½ cup of baked beans is equivalent to 6g of fiber, ½ cup of cooked lima beans contains 6.6g and ½ cup of cooked navy beans contains 9.5g. Kidney beans are also particularly high on the fiber-rich bean scale at 7.3g of fiber in ½ cup, according to AskDrSears.com. If your child refuses to eat beans plain, jazz them up by tossing them into a burrito, taco salad, soup or a warm bowl of chili.
Berries
Berries are sweet, refreshing and also rich in fiber. Just ½ cup of raw raspberries contains 4g of fiber and ½ cup of blueberries contains 2g of fiber. Although your child isn't as likely to turn away a bowl of juicy fruit, you can add more of a fiber-punch to his snack or dessert by tossing some other fruit into the mix. Slice up an orange and a banana, which each contain 3g of fiber, and make them into a fruit salad with the berries. Alternatively, concoct a fiber-rich smoothie with berries and bananas and toss in some diced pears, which also happen to contain a lot of fiber.
Cereal
Not all cereals are rich in fiber, but some are teeming with it. Just ½ cup of AllBran cereal contains 10 to 13g of fiber and ½ cup of wheat bran contains about 14g, ½ cup of oat bran contains 8g, according to AskDrSears.com. On colder days, feed your child a warm cup of oatmeal, which contains about 4g of fiber, says the MayoClinic.com. Make oatmeal more palatable by topping it with fresh and fiber-filled fruit, and, if your child refuses to eat high-fiber cereals on their own, add 1 to 2 tbsp. of one to his favorite cereal.
Nuts
A handful, or 1 oz., of nuts is a healthy on-the-go snack. Just 23 almonds contain 3.5g of fiber, 49 pistachio nuts contain 2.9g and 19 pecans halves contain 2.7g, according to the MayoClinic.com. Diversify your child's servings of nuts by tossing some onto salads or mixing them into a sweet-and-salty trail mix.
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