On several occasions when we have talked about infant feeding we have highlighted the importance of children eating fiber foods. For example, when we talk about the difference between drinking juices and whole fruit, we usually explain that it is better to eat the piece because the fiber is maintained that, when squeezed, is lost.
This insistence comes from the benefits that a fiber-rich diet brings to the health of people, including children. To give some examples, Eating enough fiber helps prevent some gastrointestinal disorders and improves normal bowel function.. It also helps reduce blood cholesterol, prevent childhood obesity and decreases the risk of developing chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
For all these reasons, and for others surely, the food pyramid will surely change, as Eva told us, giving more importance than they had until now to whole grains. However, fiber does not come only from whole grains, but from many other foods. That's why it might be interesting to know how much fiber do food have.
How much fiber does a child have to take
According to experts, children from 2 years you have to take the sum of your age plus 5 grams of fiber daily. For example, a 5-year-old should take 10 grams of fiber a day (5 years + 5 grams = 10 grams).
Knowing this we can tell, more or less, how much children should eat certain foods, to reach these recommendations. Next we will see what is the amount of fiber of the most common foods per 100 grams of food:
Vegetables and vegetables
- Spinach: 6.3
- Artichoke: 4
- Carrot: 1.6
- Green Bean: 2.7
- Mushroom: 2.5
- Onion: 2
- Potato: 2
- Leeks: 2
- Tomato: 1.3
- Fresh asparagus: 1.9
Fruits
- Banana: 1.9
- Pear: 1.7
- Strawberries: 1.8
- Apricot: 1.8
- Plum: 0.87
- Apple: 1,7
- Tangerine: 1.9
- Kiwi: 1.8
- Cherries: 1.7
- Orange: 1.45
- Peach: 0.85
- Melon: 0.6
Cereals
- Whole grains: 28
- Breakfast cereals: 1.3
- Wholemeal Bread: 9
- Wheat Flour: 3.4
- White Bread Mold: 3,2
- White Bread: 2.6
- Rice: 0.2
Vegetables
- White Beans: 7
- Frozen Peas: 5
- Chickpeas: 6
- Lentils: 4
Nuts
- Almond: 9.8
- Hazelnut: 6.5
- Dates: 8.7
- Peanuts: 8.1
- Nuts: 5.2
After knowing these data, we must also take into account that there is soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, being It is recommended that most of the fiber consumed be of the insoluble, as Lola told us a couple of months ago in the entry "The consumption of fiber in infant feeding".
