The benefits of whole grain foods is becoming more and more well known. Not only are they good for disease prevention and weight management, but they also play a big role in general health and wellness. The power of whole grains shouldn’t be ignored. As you’re aiming to increase your own intake your children can consume plenty of whole grains as well.
Kids need at least 2-3 servings of whole grain foods a day. At least half of their grain servings should be whole grain so it’s even better when most of your child’s grain servings are coming from whole grain sources. A school-aged child can easily get one whole grain serving. A few examples of whole-grain servings for a child are 1 cup of ready-to-eat-whole-grain cereal, cup of cooked cereal, a slice of whole-grain bread, brown or wild rice and whole-wheat pasta.
You can boost your child’s intake of whole grain in just about every meal. When it comes time for breakfast try a bowl of ready-to-eat whole-grain low fat cereal. Try adding a sliced banana or raisins to help sweeten it a little. Your best choice of cereals are those with at least three to five grams of fiber per serving. Try getting cereals like Wheat Chex, Original Total Whole Grain, Cheerios, Shredded Wheat and Quaker Essentials Crunchy Corn Bran. If your kid prefers hot cereal then give them a bowl of plain oatmeal topped with either raisins, dried cranberries, sliced bananas or a little bit of brown sugar and milk.
At lunchtime toss the white bread and use 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread for your child’s sandwiches instead. Sometimes even if it looks brown it’s not always whole wheat. That could just be from the grains or coloring. It needs to read “whole grain” or “100% whole wheat” on the package so be sure to read carefully when in the grocery store. Some days your kid will get tired of the same old sandwich. In this case try wraps, which are quick and easy to pack in a lunchbox. You can roll up lean deli-meat, cheese slices, mustard, lettuce and tomato in a whole wheat or whole grain tortilla. There are also whole wheat pita pockets.
Dinner is another mealtime where you can implement your family’s whole grain diet. If you’re planning on making spaghetti for supper try replacing your refined white noodles with those made from whole wheat. If your plan included pasta then use whole wheat lasagna noodles. You can find whole wheat varieties for just about any type of pasta noodle. If your kids don’t really care too much for it try mixing in half-and-half whole wheat noodles with your standard white noodles at first until they’ve developed a taste for it. Another easy way to get your kids eating whole grains is Nature Valley snacks. They offer tasty nutritious snacks that you can have at breakfast, pack for lunch or just an in-between-meals snack. Nature Valley’s crunchy and chewy bars use wholesome ingredients to make the best granola bars with new flavors and types that appeal to all tastes. Now they’re also offering Nut Clusters in assorted varieties now.
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