Elementary school students will eat more whole grains when
healthier bread products are gradually introduced into their
school lunches, a new University of Minnesota study shows. Whole
grain breads are strongly recommended as part of a healthy diet,
but children and pre-teens won't always eat them. For this
study, researchers from the university's department of food
science and nutrition monitored how much bread students threw
away, and whether that amount increased as the percentage of
whole-grain flour in the bread and rolls was gradually
increased. The study included meals fed to kindergartners
through sixth-graders at two Hopkins, Minn., elementary schools
over the course of a school year. Red and white whole-grain
flour was added incrementally to products, but students showed
no strong preference for either type of flour. Students didn't
throw away more bread products until the percentage of whole-
grain flour in the bread and rolls reached about 70 percent. The
research is important because it shows that