Dietary fiber plays a vital role in your child's overall health. When your youngster swallows fruits, vegetables or grains, the partially digested food travels through her stomach and into her intestine. The sugar, water, vitamins and minerals from the food travels through her intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. Fiber stays inside her intestines to promote normal bowel movements, help her achieve and maintain a healthy weight, control blood glucose levels and reduce her risk of developing heart disease.
Recommended Intake
Your child should obtain at least 10 g of fiber from the foods he eats every day, plus an additional gram for each year of age. Your 3-year-old daughter needs a minimum of 13 g of fiber a day, while her 12-year-old brother needs 22 g.
Breakfast
Start your child's day with a fiber-rich breakfast based on a whole-grain food and fresh fruit. Toast a slice of whole-grain bread, such as 100 percent whole-wheat bread that has 5 g of fiber per serving, and add crunchy peanut butter. Choose a 1-oz. serving of ready-to-eat whole-grain cereal, such as whole-wheat flakes. You can also serve your child 1/2 cup of cooked whole-grain cereal, such as oatmeal, or a more creative option, such as 1/2 cup of brown rice or whole-grain pasta left over from dinner. Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and bananas are great sources of fiber and go well with other breakfast foods. Offer your youngster fresh, frozen or canned fruit rather than lower-fiber fruit juice.
School Lunches
Plan school lunches carefully to boost your child's fiber intake. Start with a thermos of cooked legumes, such as pea soup or baked beans. Include a homemade whole-wheat muffin made by replacing half of the regular flour in your favorite recipes with whole wheat flour. Include a crunchy apple with the skin intact, a freshly peeled orange with membranes included, or a handful of dried fruits, such as figs or dates. Read your youngster's school lunch menus the night before, allowing her to buy her lunch on days with high-fiber meals.
Dinner
Your whole family can benefit from small, sustainable changes in food buying and preparation for dinner meals. Replace regular pasta with whole-wheat versions, or serve fiber-rich grains, such as quinoa or brown rice. Serve one or two meatless meals a week, capitalizing on the high-fiber benefits of dried beans or lentils. Keep a variety of canned beans on hand, and toss kidney beans or black beans into casseroles, salads or soups. Steam high-fiber vegetables, including broccoli, beans, peas and cauliflower, or serve them raw. Choose whole-wheat rolls or bread, and serve fiber-rich fruits, including citrus fruits, berries and cherries.
Snacks
Instead of forbidding snacks between meals, make the most of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and grains. Keep cleaned and sliced carrots in plain sight in your refrigerator, slip a pack of raisins into your child's backpack and keep small packets of nuts or seeds in your car for a quick snack on the run. Cook extra brown rice or whole-wheat pasta for dinner, and make the leftovers available to satisfy pre-bedtime appetites.
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