If your children are not meeting their daily fibre needs, the easiest solution is to raise the fibre content in the foods they already enjoy. Here are some tips:
1. Fibre for carb cravers
Pasta, rice and bread are must-haves for most kids. Luckily, getting high fibre options of these staples is both easy and tasty. Replace white rice, bread and pasta with whole grain, higher-fibre versions such as brown rice, whole grain bread and whole wheat pasta. This will instantly double the fibre intake for the same serving size.
2. Fibre for comfort food lovers
Are your kids big on burgers, burritos and sloppy Joes? Amp up the fibre in these beef dishes by adding kidney beans, tofu or bran cereal into the mix. If your kids love chicken fingers, make your own high-fibre version by coating chicken strips in whole grain cereal and flax seeds. Use your imagination to tuck fibre into all of their favourite comfort foods.
3. Fibre for kids who can't resist a crunch
Replace potato chips with fibre-rich popcorn (4 grams of fibre per 3 cup serving) or a cup of whole grain breakfast cereal. Choose a blend of cereals made from whole grain oats, corn, quinoa, amaranth or wheat, and you'll be serving between five and 14 grams of fibre per cup.
4. Fibre for slurpers and dippers
Legumes such as chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans have a ton of fibre and lend themselves well to soups and dips. Kidney beans are fun in slurpy minestrone or chicken noodle soup. Pureed beans are perfect for preparing hummus or black bean dip. Simply add some vegetables for dunking and you've made a great fibre-rich snack.
5. For kids with a sweet tooth
Fruit is a delicious source of fibre. The top fibre-containing fruits are berries, pears, apples and oranges. One-half cup of figs or prunes yields an impressive seven grams of fibre, making dried fruit another excellent option. Can't convince your kids to eat more fruit? Serve it as a snack when they are very hungry, and chances are they'll gobble it up. Or, call fruit by a silly name -- studies show this helps kids eat more fresh produce. Serve up a bowl of warrior sticks (apple wedges) and puddlepums (grapes) and they may ask for seconds.
With these tips, ensuring that your kids reach their daily fibre goals is easy and won't take much time. You should enjoy these fibre-rich foods too, since most Canadian adults also fall short of their daily fibre needs.
Fibre content of select foods:
| Food (1 cup, unless otherwise stated) | Amount of fibre |
| Legumes (lentils and beans) | 16 -19 grams |
| Bran sticks or buds cereal (1/2 cup) | 12 - 14 grams |
| Blackberries or raspberries | 8 grams |
| Flax seeds (1 oz) | 8 grams |
| Pear (1) | 6 grams |
| Whole wheat pasta, cooked | 6 grams |
| Broccoli | 5 grams |
| Quinoa or buckwheat, cooked | 5 grams |
| Bran flake cereal | 5 grams |
| Apple or orange (1) | 4 grams |
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