Fibre

Children don’t need as much fibre in their diet as older teenagers and adults, but they still need more than they get currently.

Table below shows recommended amount of fibre per age group

Age	Amount of fibre per day
2 - 5 years	15g
5 - 11 years	20g
11 -16 years	25g
17 and over	30g

Getting enough fibre can help reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancer, and can also improve digestive health. Choosing foods with fibre also makes us feel fuller, as well as helping with digestion and prevent constipation.

This advice should be adapted according to your medical history and tolerance level. If you have conditions such as IBS, you may find fermentable fibre in larger amounts causes bloating, gas and diarrhoea.

Tips to increase in fibre:

• Choose higher fibre breakfast cereal (Weetabix, shredded wheat or porridge oats)
• Choose wholemeal or granary breads, or wholegrains such as whole wheat pasta, bulgur wheat or brown rice
• Have potatoes with skins on
• Add pulses such as lentils, chickpeas, beans to stews, curries and salads
• Have 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day
• Look on ingredient labels for foods high in fibre (6g per 100g) or that are considered a source of fibre (3g or more per 100g)
• Other high fibre food sources include nuts and seeds and other wholegrains such as barley and rye
• Swap staple items like bread, pasta and flours from white to wholegrain/ wholemeal
• For snacks, try fresh fruit, vegetable sticks, rye crackers, oatcakes, hummus and unsalted nuts or seeds.
• Remember to drink a good amount of fluid as you increase your fibre intake. Fibre draws water into the bowel so you may become dehydrated if you do not drink enough.