ABSTRACT
The importance of dietary fiber (DF) has been recognized by leading United States health organizations, but most have addressed their recommendations to adults, rather than to children and adolescents. Interest in and research on DF and health have focused primarily on adults, and less is known about the physiology and health effects of DF in childhood. The physiological effects of DF depend on the type of fiber ingested, the part of the gastrointestinal tract involved, and other factors. The net effect is that high levels of DF tend to result in larger stools, which are softer and passed easily and more frequently, while low levels of DF favor hard, dry stools, which are passed less frequently and with greater difficulty. An inverse relationship between DF intake and obesity has been suggested from observations that obesity is rare in developing countries where a high proportion of calories come from complex carbohydrates rich in DF.
