Healthy Snacks/Meals for a "picky" child tohat needs to gain weight

mreichard

Fruit smoothies with coconut cream, protein powder and full fat Greek yogurt. My son loves them. He also eat GNC mass gainer without creatine (a serving plus whole milk is like 1000 calories).

lseed87

Homemade pizza - like a treat! You know what is in it. He gets to learn a little about cooking. Win win

Hummus and carrots or whatever he'd like with hummus

Maybe make a few days a week where he can have 'junk food' but also limit it. Chocolate pudding is a good alternative to more unhealthy things.

teetertatertango

I think this has the potential to backfire, especially since he seems to equate what the doctor said as a pass to eat unlimited junk food.

How often is he getting weighed at the doctor? I wonder if there is enough data to really say that he doesn't gain "consistently" enough?

I don't see a compelling reason to drastically change his eating habits when he is already in a healthy range. When he gets to his next growth spurt, his appetite will likely ramp up as well. Seems like the doctor is anticipating a problem that hasn't even happened and trying to "fix" a *normal* weight kid. Craziness!!

P.S. My kid's pediatrician tried this as well. I took a wait and see approach and everything sorted itself out over time without overfeeding or junk. Based on the experience of someone I know, I would worry about pushing a "eat as much as possible to gain weight" approach, because in that case it did not magically turn off when X weight was gained, and a lot of bad habits were learned in the process.

Lounmoun

jenijo wrote: »

He does not like potatoes of any kind (including french fries). He DOES like most protein and some vegetables. He does not like berries or bananas, but will eat mandarin oranges, peaches and pears. He doesn't drink soda or juices, only water and milk. To me, this all sounds pretty healthy and I don't want him to start eating poorly to gain the weight.

He'd be happy if I let him eat cheeseburgers, pizza and hot dogs every day. I want to help him gain, but teach him to choose healthier foods to do so. If I let him eat this stuff more regularly, I'm afraid he'll end up gaining too much. I'm trying to eat more like he currently does, so adding this stuff to my kitchen is not beneficial to me either LOL

I wouldn't worry much about it either way.
You could try a few different foods though. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
Full fat dairy- milk, cheese, yogurt, smoothies, cottage cheese
fried eggs, hard boiled eggs, hard boiled eggs, omelet rice
Hummus and vegetables or pita chips
Nuts and seeds- trail mix
apples with peanut butter, celery with peanut butter
There really isn't anything wrong with cheeseburgers or pizza frequently except it is dull to have every day. Make sure the portion sizes are appropriate and maybe pair it with a salad or fruit. Make your own at home.




My dd would live on pancakes, chicken nuggets, tacos, mac and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, pepperoni pizza and fruit. She will eat other stuff though. Her choices are pretty decent. We only eat out one meal per week. We have had a talk about portion sizes and spreading out our intake of snack foods- like don't eat a whole package of cheese in one day or don't eat out of containers.
I have my dd pick out 2 non-perishable snacks a week and they go in to her snack box in the cupboard. I divide items into individual portions and it has to last the week. She likes chocolate covered nuts, cheese crackers, chips, granola bars.

AliceAxe

how about nutrition bars? there are realy good healthy ones on the market now packed with flavor and dense calories and nutrition, sweet and yummy too like candy bars. what kid could resist that?

nicsflyingcircus

Buying trouble.

My 6', 13yo son is between 115 and maybe 120lbs. Borders on underweight but he plays lacrosse, is generally active, does 50-100 pull ups daily and eats fine. I'm not about to push even more food on him. The kid gets 2% milk, we mix whole fat plain yogurt with low-fat vanilla yogurt, he eats full fat cheese and sour cream, he eats plenty of meat ranging from lean to fatty, he eats fruit and veg, cereal, oatmeal, toast, sandwiches, pasta, rice, potatoes, plenty of eggs... Not to mention pizza and other convenience foods. I figure if his weight was a health issue, that's one thing, but he's just very lean but strong.