Pass The Pasta: Are Noodles Good For Your Kids?

by Jennifer Schonborn (Subscribe to Jennifer Schonborn's posts) Sep 17th 2009 11:10AM

Categories: Eating & Nutrition, Mealtime

Is there any food kids love more than pasta? Chances are, pasta, in some form, makes a regular appearance at the dining table. But should it be in regular rotation, or more of a once-in-a-while thing? Read on to find out whether Italian pasta, ramen, mac and cheese and canned pasta meals are good for your family.

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Noodles

Noodles are the perfect kid food -- or are they?

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Phil Walter, Getty Images

Noodles - Safe or Scary?

Basic Pasta
Regular pasta made with white flour sounds wholesome enough, but it brings with it all the baggage that any food made with refined grain does--it is digested quickly and causes a spike in blood sugar, and therefore, over time, can lead to an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and weight problems.

Verdict: Eat regular pasta in moderation, and cook it al dente (until it's just tender). If not boiled till it's really soft, the grain is broken down more slowly in the stomach, lessening the blood-sugar elevation.

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Whole Wheat Pasta
Afraid of whole wheat pasta? Don't be. The cardboardy-tasting penne of yesteryear has given way to some truly delicious noodles (I love the Bionaturae brand) that don't taste all that different from the white stuff. Whole wheat pasta will help protect you against a host of chronic diseases, and keep you and your kids full longer, thanks to the fiber and gentle effect on blood sugar.

Verdict: Best choice -- make this your default pasta.

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Canned Pasta Meals
While quick to prepare, pre-cooked spaghetti and ravioli that come in a can are swimming in salt, sugar, and, if non-organic, lots of additives like MSG. If you were preparing homemade pasta with sauce, would you add two teaspoons of sugar to each serving? How about more than a quarter teaspoon of salt?

Verdict: It's worth taking a few extra minutes to boil up some pasta and add your own sauce.

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Ramen Noodles
Ramen noodles are tempting because they're so cheap and so easy to prepare, which is probably why college kids are known to live on these noodle bricks. One package contains 76 percent of the sodium one should have for the entire day, as well as partially hydrogenated oils, MSG, and lots of things that are "hydrolyzed" and "autolyzed."

Verdict: Too much salt, too many additives, and nothing but empty calories.

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Boxed Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese--in many kids' eyes, the king of all noodles. There are some very real differences in the ingredient lists of boxed mac and cheese products, though, so be sure to read the labels. Perhaps you'd like to avoid having Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 be part of your child's dinner.

Verdict: If you need the convenience of boxed mac and cheese, go for the brands that contain the fewest ingredients and no artificial colors. But you can also consider just boiling up plain pasta and stirring in some grated cheddar and a bit of salt for a more wholesome alternative.

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Jennifer Schonborn is a holistic nutrition counselor based in New York.

Comments (6)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Karen 9-17-2009 @ 12:36PM

Once I got over my annoyance over having to click through a slideshow of pointless stock images instead of reading a short bulleted list, I have two tips of my own. (1) All the bad stuff in ramen is in the "flavor packet," so you can reduce the harm considerably by only using half. (2) Melting cheese on top of noodles does not result in mac & cheese; there are a million good recipes online for quick stovetop mac & cheese or hearty oven mac & cheese.

Susan Avery 9-18-2009 @ 6:29AM

Hey Karen: I am so glad you mentioned that. We are definitely looking at how we can bring this valuable content to readers in a better way. Doing a bullet-pointed list is probably a better way to go. Look for a change in format for the next installment.

3boys 9-17-2009 @ 4:00PM

My son loves penne with toasted breadcrumbs. I adapted it from a Giada De Laurentiis cookbook. (Everyday Italian - Orecchiette with toasted breadcrumbs)

Cook 1 1/2 cup penne and right after draining pour into a large hot skillet with 1 cup of lightly salted bread crumbs toasted with 1/4 cup olive oil. Stir quickly to keep the penne from sticking to the hot skillet. The breadcrumbs will stick to the penne. Mix in small cubes of ham and sprinkle grated mozzarella on top.

Rob O. 9-18-2009 @ 5:36AM

Dreamfields pasta is a fantastic alternative that has more than twice the fiber and far fewer digestible carbs, so it won't cause blood sugar spikes the way traditional pasta does.

Whole wheat pasta's tend to be rather dense & chewy and are sometimes very darkly-colored which can be quite obvious in certain recipes or dishes. But the Dreamfields pasta has almost exactly the same texture, color, and taste of traditional pasta so you can seamlessly substitute this for standard pasta.

My family's guilty pleasure is the boxed mac & cheese with the foil packet of cheese sauce, so I still use those once or twice a month, but toss out the nutritionally-void pasta that's included and use Dreamfields elbow noodles instead. I secretly transitioned over to this pasta a coupla months ago and they don't even know.

I'm not a spammer or advertiser; I don't work for Dreamfields or any other food-related company. I'm just a Dad trying to promote much healthier choices for my family and this pasta lets me do that and still cook food they'll enjoy

Heather 9-18-2009 @ 10:00AM

We use whole wheat, flax or multigrain pasta, the kids love it because it has flavour on it's own. There are a lot of great brands out there for every budget . The sauce is what adds the calories.

Dr. Charles Martin 9-28-2009 @ 6:09PM

Informative post. As always, it's important to pay attention to the glycemic index of any meal for those who have type 2 diabetes or who are at risk of developing high blood sugar levels.

We write extensively about related issues at http://dentistryfordiabetics.com/blog, especially the links between elevated blood sugar and gum disease that can interfere with diabetes control and significantly increase risk of serious health events such as heart attack, stroke and blindness.

- Charles Martin, DDS
Founder, Dentistry For Diabetics

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