Being underweight can affect a child's growth and energy. Some children are naturally thin, but it does not affect their health. A skinny kid, however, may be subject to teasing and suffer from low energy. Help your child gain weight healthfully with simple strategies.
Step 1
Consult with your physician if you are concerned about your child's weight. Rule out any medical conditions such as celiac disease or food allergies that may be contributing to his size. Make sure he is not just going through a temporary growth spurt that will even out within a few months.
Step 2
Encourage small meals often. Allow your child to graze all day and eat scantily at conventional meals. Ask her every one or two hours if she is hungry for a snack and offer kid-friendly foods such as dried fruit, low-sugar energy bars, smoothies, granola, string cheese, yogurt and whole grain crackers.
Step 3
Avoid feeding your child high-calorie junk food. Do not set your child up to rely on nutrient-poor candies, chips, cookies and pastries for energy as this may set up a lifetime habit, warns Dr. Stephen Daniels, a professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on nutrition, on Baby Center.
Step 4
Give your child less fruit juice, which has minimal nutritional value. Encourage water, which is less filling and may not make your child too full to eat. Push milk, enhanced with a couple extra tablespoons of dry milk powder and flavored with strawberry or chocolate syrups, and fruit smoothies for nutritious, high-calorie drinks. Dr. Claire McCarthy of "Parenting" magazine also notes that too much juice can cause diarrhea, impeding weight gain.
Step 5
Increase the calorie content of foods your child already eats without adding a lot of bulk. Stir olive oil into pasta, add nut butter to toast and oatmeal, include cheese on sandwiches or in scrambled eggs and make soups with milk instead of water or broth.
Step 6
Allow your child to eat healthy desserts. Go for low-fat pudding, frozen yogurt or muffins, and cookies made with whole grains, fruit and minimal sugar. Serve fruit with whipped cream.
Tips and Warnings
- If your child is allergic to nuts, try adding sun butter--a spread that tastes like peanut butter, but is made with sunflower seeds.
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