Only bread for dinner (again)!
We parents can get pretty worried that our children aren’t getting enough nutrition when they consistently eat just bread, rice or pasta for dinner, however, rest assured that even the popular ‘white diet’ is actually packed full of good stuff.
Bread, pasta, cereals and rice are a great source of vitamin B1 (Thiamin), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B9 (Folate), Vitamin E, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus, as well as an excellent source of carbohydrate – the perfect fuel for growing children. They also contain essential dietary fibre for good gastrointestinal health and can provide protection against some chronic conditions.
To ease our worries, we can consider enhancing nutrition in these safe white foods by offering variety, such as different types of whole-wheat or mixed grain bread, wraps, pita breads, naan, crumpets, crackers and even adding a bit of brown rice to white rice (I’ve found brown basmati rice works well). Good old Weet-Bix and Cornflakes are also packed full of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre.
There’s LOADS of different varieties on the shelf, but look for anything with whole-wheat, wholegrain, ‘added fibre’, ‘high fibre’ or ‘fibre enriched’ and you can be sure there will be heaps of awesome nutrition in every bite. There’s even a few ‘white’ bread varieties that have been enriched with extra fibre. It’s also useful to know that in Australia, by law, all bread is fortified with thiamin (B1) and folic acid/folate (B9) and iodine. Win!
In most cases, children actually get more nutrition than what we think when we consider what they’ve consumed over the course of the whole day. If you are concerned that your child’s food intake is too limited, see an Accredited Practising Dietitian who specialises in child and family feeding. Your Dietitian will assess both your child’s diet and how feeding/eating is going and then work with you to decide whether there’s anything you need to do to support them.
Eat happy!
Rachel (KDF intern)
