ISO food to help my child gain weight

[tinkerbell27]

my son is 5 years old and undrweight. he eats eveything i give him. he eats all day long but gains very little weight. he eats more then i do. what foods are the best to feed him to help him gain. any suggestion you have are helpful.
thank you.

 

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC, tinkerbell.

The best source of this information is your pediatrician and a child nutritionist.

 

[tinkerbell27]

i asked and they said feed him what you eat and what ever he wants. thank for your info.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss Tinkerbell...

Welcome to DC...Who diagnosed your child as underweight??

 

[Mylegsbig]

lol, seriously in this day and age i'd count your blessings. people are letting their kids get a little out of hand on the opposite end of the spectrum.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I think as long as he is eating it should not be a problem he just may have a high metabolism.OMG I wish I could eat like that.

 

[Katie H]

IMO if the pediatrician thinks all the child needs to do is to eat until satisfied and is getting the proper nutrition, I wouldn't worry. He'll come into his own in time, believe me. We raised 4 sons and a daughter and, when the time comes, they'll eat you out of house and home.

Seriously, though, as long as he is getting the right balance of foods, I wouldn't worry about him.

And, a someone else queried, who judged him to be underweight? Friends? Family? Many years ago, it was thought that a "fat" baby was a healthy baby. Wrong assumption. It would be helpful if you could give us a little more background information. Still, his doctor is the best source of advice.

 

[Claire]

If he likes it, dairy products can help. A big glass of milk, chunks of cheese. But I'm with everyone else; if your doctor says he's OK, don't worry about it. Whatever you do, don't get the child hooked on junk food, chips, candy, etc. He won't thank you for in in 20 years!

 

[Yakuta]

Both my boys are also in the same boat. While my older one is not a big eater my younger one is. Inspite of that they don't add a lot of weight.

I am not concerned about it. I see way to many kids who have the opposite problem.

Kids especially boys are so active. My younger one does not sit put for one minute. Some of the fat is burnt by the sheer amount of activity they engage in - running around up and down in my big house, playing outside, cycling, running around all day in school etc. This helps burn all the calories.

Also they go through growth spurts where all of a sudden they eat more, grow more and then it slows down.

I actually worry that as they get older they don't swing to the other end of the spectrum by adding a lot of weight. I am not at all concerned them being on the skinny side right now.

 

[Constance]

I'd give him milk shakes, ice cream, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, granola...high energy foods to keep him going. Homemade oatmeal cookies with raisins and nuts would make a nice treat.

 

[YT2095]

Pasta, Pasta and Pasta

 

[Mylegsbig]

If you must intentionally overfeed him i would definitely stick to stuff that is not addicting and avoid stuff like sweets.

bad habit to pick up.

 

[Barb L.]

I think he will be just fine, as long as the Dr. doesn't have a concern. My Mom use to tell me my brother was a small boy, She said the Dr. told her " you can't make a work horse out of a shetland pony! I have never forgotton that. BTW - he is 72 now - lol

 

[Jeekinz]

I was the same way growing up. I had/have a very fast metabolism. In High School, I used to consume over 5000 calories a day. And didn't gain a pound. I'm 32 now and just started to get a little belly (desk job), but I'll eat a whole sub for lunch and can put down a whole large pizza for dinner. (I know, my DW hates that too)

I would think that creating an issue on his weight would be more unhealthy than the few pounds that he wouldn't gain anyway.

And DON'T go by those stupid weight/height/age charts, they are a crock of ****!

 

[Caine]

My son, Plague of Locusts, can eat any three people, adult or child, male or female, skinny to morbidly obese, under the table, and he is 25 years old, 5' 11" and weighs 145 pounds! He has always been this way. That is why I call him "Plague of Locusts!" He will devour everything in his path.

When he was 3 years old, his daycare center served a hot lunch every day. He would finish his, then go around and eat everyone else's leftovers! When he was 4 to 7 years old, he had to bring a lunch to his daycare center/kindergarten and first grade class. A typical lunch would be: One whole sandwich on regular sized bread, a sandwich baggie full to overflowing with chips, a baggie full of celery and carrot sticks with ranch dressing for dip, a drink box, a carton of yogurt or a pudding cup, and some type of Hostess snack cake. This kid has never had body fat. NEVER! Fortunately his day care center had a swimming pool because I had to get him into swimming lessons. Put him in a pool, and he'd sink right to the bottom. No fat, no float!

Don't worry about him. His metabolism will eventually slow down by the time he finishes high school, and as an adult he'll be fighting the battle of the bulge, just like the rest of us. Once he is around 14 years old, you can get him interested in some type of weight training program, at a gym or at home, to build lean muscle. He will still be thin, but he will be a muscular thin, sort of like Bruce Lee. Which reminds me, martial arts classes will help build self-confidence so he won't worry so much about being skinny, and he'll be able to defend himself if harrassed about it.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Let him eat as he wants, of course making sure his utritional needs are met. As long as he is burning off the wait through activity, he has nothing to worry about. I was one of those tiny guys who ate like a horse. But I too grew up in areas that begged to be explored. We swam every day in the river (huge river that connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron) as it was at the end of our back yard. In the fall, we played football, or whatever. We had tree forts, and great gravel and sand pits to sled in when the snow fell. I believe that in simple play, we burned more calories than do most athletes.

The down side to all of htis activity is that it revs up the metabolism. If I skipped a meal, I would be hypoglycemic and would shake until I got some food. I graduated high school at 92 pounds and ate enough for three people. But when I got married, my activity level slowed down dramatically. But I didn't know enough to slow down my eating. I began to gain weight. At first it was cool because I was lifting weights and gaining muscle. I thought I was superman. But eventually, the needs of the family took up most of my time and my life became more sedentary. The end result is that my pancreas gave up converting all of that blood sugar (think potatoes, processed flour, white rice, sugary foods) and I was diagnosed as a diabetic at age 40. I simply wore out the insulin making machine.

So, to sum it up, let him eat what he needs. But teach him proper nutritional habits. Encourage him to eat veggies, especially the ones with lots of fiber, and color. Sweet potatoes are a very good food. White potatoes are not. Berries will satisfy his sweet tooth and give him super nutrition. lean meats, poultry, and fish are great as well. Teach him to eat well now, and he will have a better chance or avoiding health problems later in life.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[BreezyCooking]

Oh for goodness sake - what gobbledegook. Suggestions for stuffing your son full of more food - & much unhealthy food at that - simply to increase his weight?? I thought folks here were smarter than that. Guess not.

First off, I have to say that I find it extremely DIFFICULT to believe that any licensed physician you took your son to found him underweight & nutritionally deficient & then told you to just stuff him with whatever you or he wanted to eat. That, quite frankly, doesn't make any sense whatsoever. If that is truly what happened - you need to find yourself another doctor.

Your son doesn't need OVERFEEDING - & particularly not an overload of carbs & sweets. What he needs is a BALANCED diet, which any LEGITIMATE doctor or nutritionist can supply you with.

I find the responses to this thread scary based on the supposed facts provided.

 

[amber]

Does your pediatrician think your son is under weight and in danger of not having enough vitamins and minerals in his diet? Unless he has a vitamin defeciency or other health problem, I would not worry much about a five year old being a little underweight. How much does he weigh?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Oh for goodness sake - what gobbledegook. Suggestions for stuffing your son full of more food - & much unhealthy food at that - simply to increase his weight?? I thought folks here were smarter than that. Guess not.

First off, I have to say that I find it extremely DIFFICULT to believe that any licensed physician you took your son to found him underweight & nutritionally deficient & then told you to just stuff him with whatever you or he wanted to eat. That, quite frankly, doesn't make any sense whatsoever. If that is truly what happened - you need to find yourself another doctor.

Your son doesn't need OVERFEEDING - & particularly not an overload of carbs & sweets. What he needs is a BALANCED diet, which any LEGITIMATE doctor or nutritionist can supply you with.

I find the responses to this thread scary based on the supposed facts provided.

So go ahead and tell me what I said wrong in my post. You painted every post with the same paintbrush. My nutritional plan is based upon a great deal of personal research and the advice of not only my doctor, but my nutritionist. I agree with you that carbs and empty calories are unhealthy, as is consumption of too many fats, or the wrong kinds of fats. The body requires fats to make certain fat-soluble nutrients available. It also needs a host of viatmins, protiens, phyto-chemicals, antioxidants, minerals, and even trace elements. The absolute best way to get them is through natural foods.

I have been told again and again to eat a wide variety of foods, and a little bit of each food presented in the meal. Processed and pre-prepared foods (frozen dinners, canned, bottled, and pre-cooked) contain more salts, and fewer choices than do foods made at home. I believe that we should encourage our children to learn cooking skills, and introduce them to something new frequently. That way, they will develop a desire for greater variety, and better tasting, more nutritious foods.

Also, don't be too quick to judge. Few here have studiied medicine or nutrition around this site. They are jsut trying to be helpful in the best way they know how. A polite correction will go much further than will degrading remarks. It is better to teach correct principles than to throw verbal barbs.

Also, if you read all of the posts, you will see that most posters recomended that a qualified nutritionist be contacted.

I have done the research, and do know something about the body, it's digestive system, and proper nutrition. I have studied many diets, and found the good an bad in them, using proffessional nutritional reference materials, as well as picking the brains of several nutrtionists. And yet, though I am probably far ahead of most of the American populous concerning this topic, I am not a proffesional and rerfer to them frequently for new information, especially about diabetes.

Please be more tactful in the future.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[love2"Q"]

i have a 5 yo .. he has always been skinny and tall ...
his doc suggested we give him carnation instant breakfast
with his milk .. well it helped .. we do the suger free stuff ..
but he likes it .. and he is where he needs to be ..