Whole grain foods are good for you. They help reduce the risk for many life-shortening diseases plus they strengthen our gut microbiome, often our first line of defense against infection. With all this going for them, whole grains are still a hard sell for most kids. They often prefer to eat pasta and bread made from white flour.
That’s where white whole wheat comes in. Foods made with white whole wheat flour are usually more quickly accepted by children than foods made from the more common red wheat. Both red and white wheat offer very similar nutrition and health benefits, but the bran, or outer layer of white whole wheat is lighter in color. Breads, cereals and pasta made from white whole wheat are lighter in color and have a milder flavor than traditional whole wheat foods.
The National School Lunch program is required to offer whole grains, but the struggle has been to get kids to eat them. Taste tests, recipe tweaks, and using popular foods, like pizza, made from whole grains, can help kids enjoy more whole grains foods.
