After-School Snacks Could Provide Kids With The Whole Grains That They Avoid

Just what kids need - more Calories.

An after-school snack of graham crackers might be one way to get children to eat more whole grains, a new study from the University of Minnesota shows.

Federal nutrition guidelines recommend at least three servings a day of whole-grain foods, but previous studies have found that children typically only eat about one serving per day, largely because they don't like the taste or texture of whole-grain foods.

In this study, researchers served graham snacks with four levels of whole-grain flour content to about 100 elementary-school children in a Roseville, Minn. after-school program. The researchers measured how much of each kind of snack was thrown away uneaten. The surprising finding: the students ate just as many crackers with higher whole-grain content as the more processed versions.

"Graham snacks provide a healthy, highly acceptable whole grain food that kids love to eat, " says Len Marquart, the lead investigator on the study. " This is an excellent way for kids to get up to an additional serving of whole grain per snacking occasion."

Wanna bet?