Importance of Fiber-rich Diet in Kids' Daily Nutritional Intake

Food for kids must consist of all essential nutrients in order to ensure proper child nutrition. Dietary fiber is one of those important nutrients that should be present in a child's diet chart.

Dietary fiber is known to be a group of substances present in plant foods, which cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes in the intestines. There are two types of dietary fiber; soluble fiber, which is found mainly in fruits and vegetables, and insoluble fiber, found mainly in whole grains and cereals.

Soluble fiber slows blood sugar spikes after eating, and insoluble fiber softens and plunges food waste through the digestive tract. Both of these fibers are drastically valuable food for kids as they help children absorb their food better, prevent common stomach problems like constipation, etc., and reduce the risk of other serious problems in the long term like diabetes, cancer, etc.

The best way to sneak fiber into your child's diet is through high-fiber foods like Grains, nuts, vegetables, fruits, and beans, as they are usually the best and most easily available sources of fiber.

Why is fiber important for kids?

A Fiber-rich diet keeps the kids full and aids in the smooth working of the digestive tract. Healthy food for kids that is rich in dietary fiber is also a good source of other nutrients and vitamins.

Benefits of a high-fiber diet
• Fiber helps regulate bowel movements and aids in softening or moistening the stools which helps push food waste out of the body easily.
• A high-fiber diet helps in maintaining bowel health by reducing the risk of diseases like hemorrhoids, diverticular disease, and even colorectal cancer.
• A fiber-rich diet also helps lower cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber found in fruits and veggies may help lower total blood cholesterol levels by lowering the 'bad cholesterol' count. These high-fiber foods may also help in maintaining heart health by keeping blood pressure and inflammation in control.
• Adequate amount of dietary fiber in child nutrition also helps in keeping blood sugar levels in control. Soluble fiber can slow down the absorption of sugar, which can lead to improved blood sugar levels. Healthy food for kids that includes insoluble fiber may also allay the risk of type-2 diabetes, in the long term.

• Healthy food for kids with dietary fiber also supports healthy weight management. High-fiber foods in child nutrition also play the role of being a catalyst for maintaining the ideal weight of the child. High-fiber food for kids is more filling than low-fiber foods. So children are likely to eat in moderation, stay full for longer periods, and also stay high on energy, with less food consumption, throughout the day.

How much Dietary Fiber do kids need daily?

The nutritional intake of dietary fiber in food for kids varies as per gender & age. Healthy food for kids with high-fiber content helps in attaining an adequate amount of fiber intake daily, maintaining a balanced diet, and proper child nutrition.

Required Dietary Allowance (RDA) for daily intake of dietary fiber to meet fiber needs by gender and age:

Gender & Age	RDA (grams/per day)
Boys (9-13 years)	31
Girls (9-13 years)	26
Boys (14-19 years)	38
Girls (14-19 years)	26

Meeting these fiber needs by gender and age may not be easy without a balanced diet for kids. So, by adding fiber-rich foods to your child's diet you can make sure they have ample fiber during the day.

Healthy High-Fiber Food Chart For Kids

A high-fiber food chart can help in meeting the daily requirements for proper growth and development of growing kids. Picking the best high-fiber food for kids will ensure good overall health as well.

The following high-fiber food chart will guide you through fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and cereals that are high in fiber content. This high-fiber food chart will show the grams of dietary fiber per serving in different fiber-rich food for kids.

Fruits	Serving Size	RDA Fiber (grams/per serving)
Banana	1 medium	3.1
Apple (with skin)	1 medium	4.4
Orange	1 medium	3.1
Pear (with skin)	1 medium	5.5
Raspberries	1 cup	8
Strawberries	1 cup	3
Dried Figs	2 medium	1.6
Raisins	2 tbsp	1
Blueberries	1 cup	3

Vegetables	Serving Size	RDA Fiber (grams/per serving)
Peas (cooked)	1 cup	8.8
Broccoli (boiled)	1 cup	5.1
Turnip Greens (boiled)	1 cup	5
Sweet corn (Boiled)	1 cup	4.2
Brussels Sprouts (Boiled)	1 cup	4.1
Potato (with skin, baked)	1 medium	2.9
Artichoke (cooked)	1 medium	10.3
Tomato	1 small	1.2
Carrot (raw)	1 medium	1.7
Cauliflower	1 cup	2.1
Sweet Potatoes	1 medium	3.3

Beans, Nuts & seeds	Serving Size	RDA Fiber (grams/per serving)
Lentils (cooked)	1 cup	15.6
Black Beans (cooked)	1 cup	15
Split peas (cooked)	1 cup	16
Lima beans (cooked)	1 cup	13.2
Baked Beans	1 cup	10.4
Sunflower Seeds	¼ cup	3.9
Almonds	½ cup	9
Pistachios	½ cup	6.5
Walnuts	½ cup	4.25

Grains & Cereals	Serving Size	RDA Fiber (grams/per serving)
Oatmeal	1 cup	4
Bran Flakes	¾ cup	5.3
Barley	1 cup	6
Whole-wheat bread	1 slice	3.5
Brown Rice (cooked)	1 cup	3.5
Whole wheat pasta (cooked)	1 cup	6.2
Popcorn	3 cups	3.5

A proper child nutrition demands balanced meals throughout the day. Add these high-fiber food options, alternately in the week, to your child's meals to provide healthy food for kids.

How to sneak fiber into a child's diet?

Parents usually ask this question; 'how to sneak fiber into a child's diet?' As children are generally fussy or picky when it comes to food. So it becomes difficult for the parent to provide a balanced diet to their child, and ensure proper child nutrition.

The answer is to make food for kids' fun. Using creative ways to sneak some the fiber in your child's diet will make sure they ask for those dishes again and also, get complete daily fiber intake.

Here are some creative ways to sneak fiber into a child's diet:

1. Breakfast
• Serve a bowl of hot oatmeal with blueberries. Blueberries will add flavor and some exciting color too.
• Top fiber-rich whole grain cereals with apples, berries, or bananas. Also, sprinkle some almonds or flaxseeds.
• Make bran or whole-grain waffles or pancakes topped with some maple syrup, or any other syrup flavor your child loves.
• Make delicious whole-grain bread sandwiches with cottage cheese filling or any other filling that your kid likes.

2. Lunch & Dinner meals
• Toss in some whole-grain pasta instead of regular pasta in your child's lunch or dinner meal. Whole-grain pasta will be a really fun food for kids.
• Use brown rice in lunch or dinner meals instead of white rice. Black beans curry with broccoli and other veggies along with fried brown rice would be a tongue-teaser and healthy food for kids at the same time.
• Add some fruits and nuts like berries, oranges, apples, almonds, chickpeas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and beans to salads.
• Serve up some healthy and delicious lentil soup with whole grain bread to your kids. Add a healthy salad on the side.

3. Snacking
• Popcorn is one of the most loved foods for kids as a snack. Slip in a bowl of popcorn while they watch their favorite TV show.
• Choose whole-grain crackers instead of the other ones.
• A fruit chaat is a very interesting option, which is full of flavor and health.
• Sprinkle some masala or flavor over boiled sweet potatoes. It's healthy food for kids, with a twist.

Ensure proper child nutrition with deliberate attention to food for kids that enriches their diet with all essential nutrients. Fiber intake is as important as any other nutrient in the body for the proper growth and development of growing children. Dietary fiber is required for many important biological and physiological functions in the body. Fiber-rich foods, namely, fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, and cereals are very healthy food for kids in their daily diet.

Nt. Divya Gandhi posted this article on https://www.tayyarijeetki.in/importance-of-a-fibre-rich-diet-in-kids-daily-nutritional-intake/