Fiber and your child

Source: Healthy Kids

Few kids would say they crave a good fiber-rich meal. Although the thought of fiber might bring gags and groans from kids, many appetizing foods are actually great sources of fiber — from fruits to whole-grain cereals.

Foods with fiber are not just for the senior-citizen crowd. They’re beneficial to everyone because they’re filling, which helps discourage overeating — even though fiber itself adds no calories. Along with adequate fluid intake, fiber helps move food through the digestive system and can help relieve and prevent constipation. It also may lower LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) and help prevent diabetes and heart disease.

Figuring Out Fiber

Dietary fiber is found in plant foods like fruits, vegetables, and grains. In packaged foods, the amount of fiber per serving is listed on food labels under total carbohydrates.

Some of the best fiber sources are:

• whole-grain breads and cereals

• apples

• oranges

• bananas

• berries

• prunes

• pears

• green peas

• legumes (dried beans, split peas, lentils, etc.)

• artichokes

• almonds

A high-fiber food has five grams or more of fiber per serving; a good source of fiber is one that provides 2.5 to 4.9 grams per serving. Here’s how some fiber-friendly foods stack up:

• ½ cup (118 milliliters) of cooked beans (kidney, white, black, pinto, lima) (6.2-9.6 grams of fiber)

• 1 medium baked sweet potato with peel (3.8 grams)

• 1 whole-wheat English muffin (4.4 grams)

• ½ cup (118 milliliters) of cooked green peas (4.4 grams)

• 1 medium pear with skin (5.5 grams)

• ½ cup (118 milliliters) of raspberries (4 grams)

• 1 medium baked potato with skin (3 grams)

• 1/3 cup (79 milliliters) of bran cereal (9.1 grams)

• 1 ounce (28 grams) of almonds (3.5 grams)

• 1 small apple with skin (3.6 grams)

• ¼ cup (59 milliliters) of dried figs (3.7 grams)

• ½ cup (118 milliliters) of edamame (3.8 grams)

• 1 medium orange (3.1 grams)

• 1 medium banana (3.1 grams)

• ½ cup (118 milliliters) canned sauerkraut (3.4 grams)

How Much Should Kids Get?

• Toddlers (1-3 years old) should get 19 grams of fiber each day.

• Kids 4-8 years old should get 25 grams a day.

• Older girls (9-13) and teen girls (14-18) should get 26 grams of fiber a day.

• Older boys (9-13) should get 31 grams and teen boys (14-18) should get 38 grams per day.

Make gradual changes that will add up to a diet that’s higher in fiber over time. And keep offering a variety of foods that are good sources of fiber — fruits like pears and berries; vegetables like spinach and green peas; lentils and kidney, white, or black beans; and whole-grain breakfast cereals and breads. Kids will get the fiber they need, and you’ll set the tone for a lifetime of healthy eating.

Students to get free fruit and vegetables

FREE Fresh Fruits and Vegetables at Albany Elementary School will be available EVERY Wednesday during snack time for AES students. Parents, please encourage your child to participate in the program.

Students to get free breakfast and lunch

A friendly reminder ALL students in Clinton County School District will receive FREE breakfast and lunch.

For more information please contact April Speck, Clinton County Healthy Hometown Coordinator at 606-387-2051 or april.speck@clinton.kyschools.us

Check us out on Facebook- Kentucky’s Healthy Hometown Initiative-Clinton County.

Healthy Hometown is working toward a “healthy” Clinton County.