Fibre is important for regulating bowel movement and eating food high in fibre
will encourage healthier eating habits for the future.
There are many types of fibre, they can be broadly categorized into 2 groups:
- Soluble fibre
- Insoluble fibre
Soluble fibre is found mostly in fruits, vegetables, beans and certain
cereals such as oats. Good sources of insoluble fibre are whole grain cereal
products such as wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice and high
fibre wheat cereals.
You can boost your child's fibre intake by:
- Serving baked beans on a slice of wholemeal toast
-
Topping a serving of cornflakes with fruits, e.g. a tablespoon of
raisins or slices of banana
- Mixing low fibre breakfast cereal with high fibre ones
-
Offering a serving of fresh fruits at lunch and dinner
or as snack in-between meals
-
Adding generous servings of vegetables into fried rice
or noodles. Cut into tiny pieces so that children cannot
pick them out
- Adding unpolished rice to white rice; ¼ brown and ¾ white
- Mixing plain pasta with wholemeal pasta
-
Hiding vegetables like carrots and onions into meat dumplings
(wonton) or blending potatoes and peas or pumpkin into soups
It is good to give food that provides a mix of both types of fibre as
they do have different roles in the body. Please remember that children
do not need as much fibre as adults. The US Dietary Recommended intake
for fibre is 19g for children 1-3 years old. Here are examples of food
sources of fibre:
| Food |
Fibre (g) |
|---|
| ½ small apple |
1 |
| ½ cup cornflakes |
0.5 |
| ½ cup carrots |
0.8 |
| 1 slice wholemeal bread |
1.5 |
| 1 slice papaya |
0.5 |
| 1 cup white rice |
0.5 |
| 1 cup brown rice |
1.6 |
Do not go overboard and give your child too much fibre as it may have
negative effects especially in young children. Firstly, fibre makes children
(and adults) feel fuller faster and longer. This may reduce the amount of
food eaten and could affect children’s' overall growth and development.
Too much insoluble fibre may prevent effective absorption of iron and
calcium. The risk of constipation is also increased if there is too much
insoluble fibre and too little water. So, alternate white bread with fruit
bread or wholemeal and wholegrain bread. Use a mix of white and brown rice
rather than just brown rice alone. Ensure that your child is eating food
from all the food groups.