![\"popcorn\"](\"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Popcorn.jpg\" "\\"popcorn\\"")
<\/p>\nA research study published in the February 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that the average daily whole grain consumption by adolescents and young adults was less than 1 serving.\u00a0 The average recommended amount is 3 servings.*<\/p>\n
Whole grains play an important role in preventing coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and overweight\/obesity.\u00a0 They also reduce constipation and provide many important nutrients.<\/p>\n
So what is a parent of a teenager to do?\u00a0 Discussing the importance of eating whole grains is not likely to get a parent far.\u00a0 Teenagers live in the \u201cnow\u201d.\u00a0 Long term health benefits are of little interest.\u00a0 Here are a few ways to get your teens\u00a0to\u00a0eat whole grains everyday:<\/p>\n
Stock your kitchen with plenty of whole grain foods.
\nHome availability impacts the consumption of whole grains.\u00a0 It makes sense \u2013 kids eat from what\u2019s available.\u00a0 Make sure you have plenty of whole grain foods in your pantry.<\/p>\n
Provide a variety of whole grain foods and see which ones your teenager likes.
\nThere\u2019s a good chance nutrition isn\u2019t influencing what your teenager eats.\u00a0 Taste, however, is.\u00a0 Finding out what whole grains your teen likes eating is a process worth undertaking.\u00a0 Try different whole grain breads, breakfast cereals, crackers, popcorn and pasta.\u00a0 Make sure the first ingredient includes the word \u201cwhole\u201d.\u00a0 Some products tout themselves as being made with\u00a0whole grains but may include only a small amount of whole grains.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Purchase new grain products.
\nThe marketplace continues to include more and more whole grain products.\u00a0 Whole grain pastas are becoming more common and are cheaper than they were in the past.\u00a0 Just the other day I saw Boboli offers a 100% whole\u00a0wheat pizza\u00a0crust.\u00a0 There are even white whole grain breads made with a specific type of wheat.<\/p>\n
Pack a lunch or snack for your teen (if they let you).
\nMany foods available to teens, such as fast food, offer few whole grain choices.\u00a0 Bringing a lunch from home allows you to include some whole grain foods.\u00a0 Snacks are a great time to enjoy whole grains.\u00a0 Popcorn\u00a0and\u00a0trail mix made with whole grain cereal seem to be winners with kids of all ages.<\/p>\n
Start offering whole grain foods when your kids are young.
\nI enjoy hearing nutrition-related stories from my friends who are parents.\u00a0 One of my favorites was my friend\u2019s toddler telling his mom he didn\u2019t want that peanut butter and jelly sandwich because it was made with yucky bread.\u00a0 The yucky bread he was referring to was white bread.\u00a0 He’d always eaten whole grain bread.\u00a0 Kids get accustomed to what they eat at home every day.\u00a0 It\u2019s never too early\u2026or too late\u2026to start offering healthy foods.<\/p>\n
What ways do you have of encouraging your family to enjoy whole grains?\u00a0 Some of the best ideas come from our readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A research study published in the February 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that the average daily whole grain consumption by adolescents and young adults was less than 1 serving.\u00a0 The average recommended amount is 3 servings.* Whole grains play an important role in preventing coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and overweight\/obesity.\u00a0 They also Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,780],"tags":[332,333,51,123,334,335,336,337],"class_list":["post-1917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e","category-nutrition-2","tag-eating-habits","tag-grains","tag-kids","tag-nutrition","tag-parents","tag-teens","tag-wheat","tag-whole-grains","cat-42-id","cat-780-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/teen1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1917"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8383,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions\/8383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}