A Whole Lot of Reasons
For Kids To Eat Whole Grains
By Sue Gilbert

The new 2005 USDA Dietary Guidelines made a long overdue recommendation to include the advice that at least 3 of your grain servings are whole grain. Recommendations are finally catching up to what scientific studies have been telling us for years….that whole grains are healthier for you. Many years ago the US government acknowledged this fact by requiring the enrichment ofprocessed grains to put back what refining took out. But the enrichment still didn’t replace everything that makes the whole grain superior, like the bran and the germ of the grain, the phytonutrients, and many of the micronutrients.

For adults, eating more whole grains is about better health. For kids, especially babies and toddlers (just starting to establish taste preferences), it’s not only about the immediate health benefits, it’s about helping to instill healthy eating habits to last a lifetime. We’ve all experienced first hand the difficulty in breaking bad habits and replacing them with new ones. Make it easy for your kids….get them started on healthy eating habits from the beginning.

Whole grains serve up a whole lot of benefits:

1. Whole grains are fiber rich. Fiber helps prevent constipation. If supplied in abundance, with plenty of fluids, it can help keep kids regular. Younger children need less fiber than older ones, so use the ‘Rule of 5’. For every year of age, add five and that’s the number of grams of fiber they need daily. For a four year old, that’s 4 + 5 = 9 grams of fiber. Infants under the year of one are an exception and do not require fiber. But that’s no reason not to serve them whole grains from the start. Although they may not need the fiber, they are developing taste preferences, and you want those preferences to be for the heartier flavor of whole grains.
2. Whole grain fiber helps to control blood sugar levels and may reduce the risk of type II diabetes. The fiber helps to slow digestion, acting like a ‘time release’ because it takes a long time to break down. This means that blood sugar levels will be more even. For the same reason, whole grains may prevent overweight and obesity. The bulkiness of the fiber and the slower digestion rate makes you feel fuller on fewer calories, and therefore may help prevent kids from eating excess calories.
3. Whole grains play a lifetime role in the prevention of heart disease and high blood pressure. The whole grain fiber helps to keep cholesterol levels low and may prevent heart disease. Risk factors for heart disease can become well-established in childhood, so that’s the time to start prevention.
4. Whole grains have flavor. Unlike the bland, often tasteless flavor of refined grains, whole grains have unique, rich, natural flavors that add variety and depth to the diet.

The physical differences between whole and refined grains is simple, the whole grain contains the bran (outside) layer, the endosperm (the middle) and the germ (the inner most layer). Processing takes out the bran and the germ, leaving only the middle, endosperm, in refined grains, such as white flour. The nutritional differences are not so simple. Gone are many of the naturally occurring B vitamins, most of the folate, the vitamin E, the protein, multiple minerals, potassium, the fiber and many phytonutrients, especially the ones known as lignans, flavonoids and saponins. New research shows that diets that provide several servings of whole grains may prevent some chronic diseases, most likely due to the presence of these micro-nutrients.

Knowing you should be getting your kids to eat more whole grains isn’t all you need to know. You also need to be able to interpret food labels so you can identify the whole grains and avoid the imposters. Recently, that task has become a little easier. Whole grain products can now display a seal of approval from the Whole Grains Council, a group of thirty plus companies, grain producers and bakers. The stamp depicts shafts of wheat and the words WHOLE GRAIN. Only those that are all whole grain can make the best claim….”100% whole grain”, others will contain most or some whole grains. But watch out for label imposters. Words like multi-grain may sound like whole grain, but that doesn’t mean it is. Color is no indication either. Brown or tan may simply mean the presence of some molasses or a food dye. Just because it contains whole grain doesn’t mean it’s healthy A whole grain cereal loaded with sugar or fat isn’t a wise choice. Find those whole grain products that come with other healthy ingredients and are low in fat and sugar.

Whole grain is a whole lot more than whole wheat:

Whole wheat is probably the first whole grain that comes to mind, but don’t limit it to that. There’s the familiar brown rice, oatmeal, barley and buckwheat plus the less familiar but very nutritious quinoa, spelt, teff, millet and amaranth. Many baked goods come with a whole grain alternatives. Besides whole grain bread, you can buy whole grain pasta, whole grain cereal, even whole grain tortillas. You can make whole grain pancakes, brown rice pudding, and whole-wheat pizza. Not all the grains in your child’s diet have to be whole grain, but making sure at least half are, will ensure he’s getting much of the benefits.