If your child is underweight, he simply may not be getting enough nutrition. However, he may also have a health condition or an eating disorder. No matter what the reason, it's important to consult a doctor for nutritional advice when modifying your child's diet and determining the underlying reason for his underweight status, according to the United Kingdom's National Health Services.
Proper Nutrition Diet
If your child is underweight because of inadequate nutrition, you may be tempted to boost her caloric intake with high-calorie but unhealthy foods such as fried fatty foods, sweets and desserts. However, this is not a good option, advises pediatric dietitian Jacqui Lowden of the Manchester Children's Hospital. When your child reaches age 5 years, you can make her diet similar a healthy and balanced adult diet. Until age 5, use a diet that's lower in fiber and higher in healthy fats. In both cases, feed your child three meals daily as well as healthy snacks. Good snacks include dried fruit, cheese on wholegrain crackers, yogurt, bananas, avocados, and small sandwiches that contain protein such as eggs or cheese. Give your child at least two healthy snacks daily, advises Janet Zand, lead author of "Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child." Give your child more frequent snacks if she requests them and if it won't interfere with her mealtimes. Lowden recommends using starch carbs such as rice, pasta or potatoes as the basis of every meal. Also choose lean proteins and feed your child five servings of veggies and fruit daily. Keep saturated and animal fat intake low and bake or grill in lieu of frying. Zand suggests serving small initial portions at meals because when your child is confronted with large amounts of food, she may actually lose her appetite.
Cystic Fibrosis Diet
Children who have cystic fibrosis often are underweight because of difficulty absorbing nutrients such as vitamins and fat, advises Kids Health. This genetic disease causes the body to make thick mucus that blocks the lungs and ducts and passageways in the body, such as those in the pancreas that bring digestive enzymes to the small intestine. The mucus also can lead to poor nutrient absorption when it coats intestines. If your child has cystic fibrosis, he needs to eat a high-fat, high-calorie and possibly a high-salt diet to stay healthy. He may also need extra fat-soluble vitamins such as D, E, A and K and may need supplements for these as well as minerals like calcium, zinc and iron, notes the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Diets are specialized because the disease can have different effects on different kids. Some kids may need special shakes or even feeding tubes at night.
Eating Disorder Diet
Your child might be underweight because of an eating disorder. These are most common among adolescent girls, says Charles Groves, lead author of "Clinical Pediatric Endocrinology." If this is the case, your child may require hospitalization to gain proper nutrition, says Zand. If your child has an eating disorder, she may also have child body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, meaning she thinks about what she looks like more than normal. Eating disorders and BDD require medical attention, advise the experts at the University of Michigan. As with youth who are underweight because of inadequate nutrition, children with eating disorders ultimately need to consume a balanced diet. However, your child will need individualized emotional and nutritional counseling to overcome this issue. Some children have rituals for consuming food that need to be eliminated before recovery can take place, such as cutting one pea into tiny pieces before eating it or eating only when alone, says Nancy J. Kolodny in "The Beginner's Guide to Eating Disorders Recovery." In other cases, food odors, tastes, placement on the plate or other issues can play a role in eating disorders.
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