Underweight 7 year old

Rhiana1188

Any advice for healthy weight gain in a child? My son is 7 and is pretty severely underweight with a BMI of 14. (His dad has also struggled to gain weight for most of his life.) After testing negative for things like diabetes and such, our doctor suggested the pediasure shakes. I'm concerned with the ingredients in those, and they're packed with sugar. I have started making him some smoothies with bananas, coconut oil, cottage cheese, and yogurt to pack some more calories into his diet. He is just not a very big eater. If I make him a big plate, he'll only eat half of it- and it takes him forever. Any tips to get the biggest bang for my buck, calorie-wise?

ElizabethOakes2

Your kid is underweight and you're worried about sugar?
Anyway, I have a friend with a similar problem- her answer has been to make up little bento boxes full of fun snack-foods= cheese cut in dinosaur shapes, sandwich meat, shaped carrots, crackers, nuts, etc, plus a little something sweet like yogurt covered raisins in addition to his regular meals. Each box comes out to about 200 calories. The food looks fun, is easily digestible, and she makes sure he always has a box on hand between meals. It's harder when they're school-age, but all of his teachers know that he needs to have his box at recess.

xcalygrl

Adding more full-fat dairy and nut butters would be my first suggestion.

ETA: as long as he isn't allergic. As for the smoothie, use full-fat yogurt, add some nut butter.

SLLeask

How tall is your boy and what does he weigh? My daughter is 7 and is tall and skinny (and she eats like a HORSE)!! As was I and I turned out just fine, I was fed Virol sandwiches in between meals and I was still skinny!!! Now I'm fat... Is he getting all his nutrients, i.e does he eat small portions but of the good stuff? Kids aren't like grown ups, their body often knows better than ours do when they have had enough and will stop eating when they feel they have had enough. Whereas we adults can happily stuff ourselves stupid. If the doctor thinks he needs to put on weight for medical reasons, or he's not getting enough good stuff, then maybe you could try giving him several small meals rather than "three square" a day. Or how about peanut butter sandwiches? Pasta with creamy, cheesy sauces? Full fat milk? Lasagne with cheese on top? That's a good one because you can blend veggies and mix with the tomato sauce if he's not a big veggie fan. I'll keep thinking...

LKArgh

Work with his pediatrician. And maybe distract him during mealtime: talk to him, take a second fork to "help him" (I am guessing putting on weight is right now a big enough concern that babying him would not be a problem if it achieves the goal), tell him a story so he stays longer at at the table?

mousie1973

my son has idiopathic short stature and has been on HGH since he was about 8 (he is now 16) and still very small... he is about 5'1 and weighs in just over 100 pounds (in comparison his 13 year old sister is 4'11 and 75 pounds..she is small too) we give him protein powder in his drinks and he can have whatever he wants to eat (I would not be concerned about sugar). Full fat butter, Cheese, meats (not lean), if he will eat it Avocados those are good too!... Good luck.. I understand the struggle!

JoshLibby

Rhiana1188 wrote: »

Any advice for healthy weight gain in a child? My son is 7 and is pretty severely underweight with a BMI of 14. (His dad has also struggled to gain weight for most of his life.) After testing negative for things like diabetes and such, our doctor suggested the pediasure shakes. I'm concerned with the ingredients in those, and they're packed with sugar. I have started making him some smoothies with bananas, coconut oil, cottage cheese, and yogurt to pack some more calories into his diet. He is just not a very big eater. If I make him a big plate, he'll only eat half of it- and it takes him forever. Any tips to get the biggest bang for my buck, calorie-wise?

Best advice is always to get a professional to help you make sure their isn't a real problem.

Wait until puberty hits, that is really what matters for a lot of kids.

If that is still not a good option for you , instead of huge meals I would snack him every 1.5-3 hours when home if you can, of course you can change that time to fit what is best for your life and his.

Allow the child to know they can eat when they want,( you can control what they eat, but at least they don't have to ask) have snacks already premade.

My kid is a picky eater is 7 years old 43 and a half inches tall but weighs 60 pounds, he's skinny but tall.

We tried those pediasure shakes, I found them to be disgusting ( so did he) and expensive.

Milk(whole) is a better answer unless lactose is a problem. If he likes peanut butter (no allergy), you're set.

Make the food fun with shapes and stuff, use bright colors! Make celery with peanut butter and have some chocolate sprinkles and say they are ants, make things look like animals like pancakes or waffles!

Being creative is a must, also make sure he knows TV/Video games can not be played until he eats breakfast lunch and dinner, a lot of kids put them first even if they're hungry. So, if it's breakfast, you can not watch tv/play until you eat and brush your teeth.

Kids know fun, so don't make this too serious either, or it will backfire.

Last, always have a liquid with a solid.

Hope that helps.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

I have an underweight son, aged almost 6. I don't know his BMI as we're not concerned enough about it to investigate further (he's very active, doing well in school, etc). This is a really touchy situation because you want to help him gain weight, but not implement unhealthy habits that may cause issues in the future. I'm with you on being wary of Pediasure shakes. They sound horrid. Go with full fat dairy, nut butters, etc. My son will often sit on the couch with the jar of PB and a spoon and yes, I let him do it Have you visited a nutritionist?

mom23mangos

My 12yr old is 5' and 79lbs of pure muscle (he does aerial arts, so he is ripped for his little frame). I let him eat whatever he wants, but try to make sure he eats a healthy meal before snacking. I'm not concerned as I was the same way and didn't start putting on any extra pounds until close to 40. He's healthy and strong, even if underweight by "standards" and that is all that matters.

His brother however, we have struggled with because of his ADHD medication. There were times when he would not eat at all (until close to 9pm, then be ravenous). He dropped to sickly proportions and I made sure to give him whole milk, made shakes with peanut butter, coconut water/oil, ice cream, etc. Used lots of butter on things, etc. It was very hard to put weight on him, so I feel your pain.

williams969

Any concerns should be addressed by your pediatrician, of course. That said, my 6-1/2 year old has a BMI of 14, which is 11th percentile for his age group (which would probably be similar to your 7 yo). Doc says he's in the healthy range, and has no concerns about his growth trend. Just says let him eat as much as he wants and ensure he eats his veggies and milk. My boy is just a little smaller than his peers.

Rhiana1188

He's 4' and weighs 46 lbs. He's always been skinny, but recently we've noticed that his ribs are pretty defined and his eyes appear sunken- which is why we took him to the doctor. They took blood and urine, also checked his blood sugar, and didn't seem to have any concerns, just suggested pediasure. It seems to be a very high metabolism, which my husband also has. I have a 5 year old daughter that is 3' 2" and weighs 41lbs (short and stocky, she takes after me, poor thing). That's probably why I am so worried, because when they stand next to each other, he just looks so darn skinny.

haviegirl

Two of my kids were very undersized as preschoolers. After being seen by their pediatrician, we were referred to a dietitian who had us keep a food diary for a week or two. After analysis of the diary, we were reassured that their diets were fine, they just needed more calories to help them catch up. The dietitian recommended we use Carnation Instant Breakfast in their milk--it helped them gain weight nicely. This was 25-27 years ago.