Fiber Fun For Kids: Fun Ways to Encourage Healthy eating

As a Mom of 5 and chief caretaker of my 2, bustling toddler nephews, I have fought many a battle with finicky eaters. I am always on the prowl for new and informative ways to make meal time and snack time fun. I have to admit that a little mom-tuitive creativity goes a long way.
Parents know that nutrients like fiber are great for their kids and are an important part of their kids' diets, but finding ways to increase their children's fiber intake can be challenging.
"To get our kids to enjoy eating healthful foods, we often have to be creative in how we present them," says Cricket Azima, children's cookbook author and founder of The Creative Kitchen. "An increase of fiber to the cereals our kids request everyday makes breakfast an easy place to help them get the important nutrients they need without the battle."
To make breakfast a fun and easy place for kids to get the nutrition they need, Kellogg Company is adding a boost of fiber to some of its most popular kid cereals. With three grams of fiber per serving, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks cereals now have the same great taste kids have always loved and help make fiber fun.
Fiber provides children with a number of benefits, including helping to keep their digestive system healthy so it can absorb nutrients. However, like many adults, U.S. children consume less than half the recommended fiber each day.

Azima says a little creativity can go a long way towards getting kids the nutrients they need:
•Presentation is Key: Kids like foods that are fun! Entertain your kids with the presentation of the food and they will be more excited to eat it. Arrange bite sized food to look like a cute animal or a funny face. Shape sandwiches with a cookie cutter, use small or cut foods to make the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Arrange foods by color and make a rainbow on the plate. Have the kids help you in these efforts.
•Engage the Mind and the Mouth: Ask kids to count how many colors are in their bowl or on their plate. Challenge them to spell the names of foods. Think of creative ways to interest them in what they're eating. This engagement increases the likelihood of children eating well and ensures a healthy dialogue at the family table.
•Don't Skip Dessert: Fruit is naturally sweet and makes a wonderful dessert! Serve up a healthy fruit fondue by dipping skewered fruit into yogurt-based dipping sauce or make a fresh fruit salad exciting by adding a handful of Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal to each serving. Dessert has never been so nutrient rich.

For more information about Froot Loops and Apple Jacks cereals and Kellogg Company's commitment to fiber,

visit http://www.kellogg.com/.

FROOT LOOP SOUP

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups pineapple juice

1 1/2 cups cranberry juice cocktail

1/2 cup frsh orange sections OR mandarin orange sections, drained

1/3 cup sliced, fresh strawberries

1/4 cup fresh red raspberries

1/4 cup seedless, green grape halves

1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

2 cups Kellogg's® Froot Loops® cereal

DIRECTIONS

1.In medium bowl stir together pineapple juice and cranberry juice cocktail.

2.Stir in orange sections, strawberries, raspberries, grapes and blueberries. Ladle into 4 serving bowls. Top with KELLOGG'S FROOT LOOPS cereal. Serve immediately.

APPLE JACKS PARFAIT

INGREDIENTS

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

1 1/2 cups Kellogg's® Apple Jacks® cereal

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup chopped, dried apple slices

4 tsp raisins

DIRECTIONS

1.In two 12-ounce parfait glasses or clear glasses, layer half of the yogurt, half of the KELLOGG's APPLE JACKS cereal, half of the applesauce, half of the apple and half of the raisins. Repeat layers. Serve immediately.


*This post is strictly informational. I was not endorsed or compensated in any way for my opinions about Kellogg's products, I just like them and thought that you might, too.*