Fiber and Digestion For Kids: A Privinta's Parent's Guide
It can be hard to get kids to eat enough fiber. That's because most kids don't like vegetables and other high-fiber foods. But it's important for their digestion! Yes, fiber is linked to digestion.
So, if your kid is experiencing digestive problems such as constipation, bloating, helping them reach their daily fiber intake is very crucial.
Keep reading to find out how much fiber should your kid eat, fiber-rich foods your kids will actually eat, and lots more.
What is fiber?
Fiber, also known as roughage, is a type of carbohydrate from plant-based foods (nuts, grains, fruits, beans, and vegetables) that your body cannot digest or break down.
It passes through your stomach, small intestine, and overall digestive system, and goes out of your body. Passing through your body, it helps to ease bowel movement and keep your digestive system healthy by flushing cholesterol and other harmful stuff out.
There are two kinds of fiber, and both are important in your child’s diet.
- Soluble fiber: Soluble fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance. It reduces blood cholesterol and helps to regulate sugar levels in the body. Soluble fiber is found in peas, beans, oats, citrus, apples, parsley, carrots, and barley.
- Insoluble fiber: This type of fiber doesn’t dissolve in water, but it helps the movement of materials through your kid’s digestive system, increasing stool bulk and easing defecation. This is the fiber that helps with constipation and irregularity.
Why is Fiber important for kids?
As parents, one thing that can take your worry level off the chart is when your child is irregular in the bathroom.
Come to think of it, they can't be consuming those foods and snacks without flushing them out.
One reason for digestive issues and lack of regularity for kids is not meeting their recommended fiber intake.
As we have seen, fiber is very crucial when it comes to digestion. So, there are lots of many good reasons to encourage fiber in your kid’s diet even though most kids hate veggies.
High fiber diet for your kid:
- Normalizes bowel movement, helps to increase the weight and size of their stool, as well as soften it. This reduces the chances of constipation because a bulky stool is easier to pass.
- Promotes heart health. Eating a high fiber diet can help regulate cholesterol levels by bad cholesterol. Soluble fiber in particular is very essential for heart health. Fiber may also help to reduce blood pressure and inflammation.
- Helps with a healthy weight. Fiber-rich diets are more filling compared to low-fiber diets. This means kids don’t have to stuff their bellies before they are satisfied. To keep your kid’s weight healthy, fiber-rich foods are necessary. Don’t forget they are packed with other vitamins and nutrients for overall health.
- Prevents diabetes and cancer. Ramping up your child’s meal with fiber prevents diabetes and lowers the risk for other common digestive cancers
- Helps them live longer. Guess what? A high fiber diet reduces the risk of dying because it keeps weight in check, helps with digestion, promotes heart health, and prevents cancer.
How much fiber should kids consume?
How much fiber your kid should take depends on his/her age. Here’s an estimate of how much fiber kids should consume.
- Children 1 to 3 years: 19 grams of fiber/day.
- Children 4 to 8 years: 25 grams of fiber/day.
- Boys 9 to 13 years: 31 grams of fiber/day.
- Girls 9 to 13 years: 26 grams of fiber/day.
- Boys 14 to 19 years: 38 grams of fiber/day.
- Girls 14 to 19 years: 26 grams of fiber/day.
According to kidshealth.org, another way you can determine how much fiber your kid should be taking is by adding 5 to their age.
- If your child is 5 years old, they should be consuming 10 grams to 15 grams of fiber per day
- A 10-year-old child should be taking 20 grams to 25 grams of fiber per day.
Fiber foods for kids
Foods that are a good source of fiber, include:
- fruit and vegetables
- nuts and seeds
- whole grains, such as 100% whole-wheat bread, brown rice, and oatmeal
- cooked dried beans, such as black beans, lentils, and split peas
But, let’s break them down some more.
Give them high-fiber cereal
Which kid doesn’t love their cereal?
Well, I do, and I’m not a kid anymore.
A packed ready to eat cereal can deliver around 3 grams to 14 grams of fiber per serving. What you want to do is to avoid cereals that are too sweet and high in sugar. Pick a cereal with at most 7 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fiber per serving.
Let them crunch on those crunchy apples
Even a very small apple can have up to 3.5 grams of fiber. Dice them up, and add some peanut butter for another 1.6 grams of fiber. Yummy treat!
Pears with the peels on
Pears are very high in fiber. A medium-size pear can boast around 5.5 grams of fiber. That is almost a quarter of their daily fiber intake met already!
You can’t go wrong with Bananas and Berries
You can get your kid to easily snack on a banana. A medium-sized banana has around 3g of fiber.
Berries are a great source of fiber too. Raspberries offer up a whopping 4 grams of fiber for every 1/2 cup. Blueberries and strawberries top out with less, at 1.8 grams and 1.5 grams respectively for the same amount.
Add carrots, but with a twist
I know carrots are a vegetable and most kids don’t like vegetables. But you can make carrots more appealing by baking carrots with cinnamon. That’s 2.9 grams of fiber in every half cup.
Avocados and Almonds
Avocados are rich in heart-healthy fats and are packed with vitamins too. ½ cups of avocado gives 5 grams of fiber. If your kid doesn’t like the taste or texture of avocado, you can:
- Blend it into a fiber boost smoothie
- Add it as a toast topper
- Use it to make a healthy dessert.
Almonds are one of the nuts that have the most fiber. With 1 ounce of almonds containing 3 ½ grams of fiber, adding almonds to your kid’s diet will help meet their daily fiber intake. Remember that nuts are also a great source of healthy fats for kids.
If allergies are a concern, you can try out pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds instead.
Whole-grain foods including whole-grain bread and pasta are good sources of fiber. For instance, whole wheat bread has an average of 2 grams of fiber per slice. You can use peanut butter or almond butter spread to make it even yummier.
For quick-cooking, whole grain pasta is excellent. Macaroni, quinoa, etc can be cooked in less than 15 minutes and still help kids with 2 to 4 grams of fiber for optimal digestive health.
Additionally, you can substitute brown rice for white rice.
Pop in some popcorns during movie night or family time or snack time
Popcorn is a high-fiber snack. A cup of popcorn has 1 gram of fiber. But you know how quickly you can snack on 3 cups without knowing… That’s 3 grams of fiber added to their daily intake already.
Sweet potatoes aren’t just for thanksgiving
A medium sweet potato has 3.8 grams of fiber! You can bake potatoes (preferably with the skin on), and let your kids choose toppings such as like shredded cheese, broccoli light sour cream, and chopped green onions or sprouts.
Add beans to soups and salads
Beans are great sources of fiber, with ½ of some beans containing up to 9.5 grams of fiber.
The list goes on and on for high fiber foods. Here’s a list of different fiber sources, and the grams of fiber they contain.
My Kid won’t eat fiber foods. What do I do?
As a parent, I understand the struggle. You know your child needs enough fiber, but getting them to eat it, is where the battle starts.
Here are some tips you can try.
- Concentrate on the fiber foods your child likes. I know variety is the spice of life, but if they don’t like some particular foods, give them the ones they like. Fiber is fiber irrespective of the source.
- Don’t make the foods bland. Spice them up a bit. This could be adding peanut butter to apples, allowing them to choose toppings for baked potatoes, using avocado butter as a toast spread.
- Make them less noticeable. This could be adding them in salads, drinks, making smoothies out of vegetables or fruits. The goal is to help them hit their daily intake.
- Top cereals, oatmeals, or yogurt with fruits and nuts. I like this one.
- Offer healthy snack options such as popcorn whole-grain crackers, fruits (bananas, apples), etc.
- When making baked foods, substitute up to half of the all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour or oat flour.
- Try to switch up the menu from time to time, and don’t be hesitant to get creative.
- Try a fiber supplement. I understand the case with some fiber supplements not offering enough fiber as promised. But fiber supplements are a great choice to help your kids hit their daily fiber intake and aid their digestive system. Just keep your eyes out for the good ones.
Privinta’s Fiber Gummy For Kids
Kids may scoff at vegetables, but they hardly scoff at gummies.
So, if you’re looking for a quick way to help them meet their daily fiber needs, fiber gummies are the way to go.
At Privinta, each fiber gummy contains 2 grams of fiber and 1.5 mg of Inulin extracted from Chicory Root.
Inulin is a dietary fiber, and also a prebiotic. Prebiotics are foods that feed the good bacteria in the gut, helping to keep the gut healthy. Our inulin is extracted from natural sources - Chicory root.
Inulin is beneficial to kids in many ways. This includes supporting digestion, promoting weight loss or healthy weight, improving health, improving mineral absorption and bone health, and may help eliminate irritable bowel disease (IBD).
Each Privinta fiber gummy is made with the highest of care and is free from allergens and toxic additives such as gelatin, soy, milk, nuts, eggs, artificial colors, and preservatives.
Plus the blackberry flavor just makes it yummier!
Can You Have Too Much Fiber?
Yes. Adding fiber quickly to your child’s diet can cause bloating, constipation, gas, or cramps. Slowly add and increase fiber over a few weeks.
Other things you can do to help is:
- Ensure they are drinking plenty of water. Taking plenty of fiber without drinking plenty of water is like putting superglue in your gut. You don’t want that for your kiddo. So be consistent with the water intake.
- Get them to exercise. Exercise is good for the heart, lungs, immune system, and also for digestion.
Finally, you made it this far, and with just enough information to help your kids meet their fiber intake and improve their digestive health.
Never forget that fiber is linked to digestion. So next time, you see your kid having some tummy troubles, you should know what the cause is, and what solutions you can try.
On a quick note, tummy troubles can also be signs of an unhealthy gut, and probiotics are one way to keep your child’s gut healthy.