Proper nutrition is crucial for a child's mental and physical development, in particular during the first three years of his life. If your pediatrician finds your toddler isn't growing at a healthy rate and has ruled out other health concerns, he may recommend you help your toddler gain weight by offering healthy foods that are high in calories. While certainly a challenge for the parent of a picky eater who burns through calories, these food preparation techniques will help your child gain weight in a safe and healthy manner.
Step 1
Select foods made with whole milk products rather than reduced fat milk. This will add fat and calories to your child's diet when he consumes milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream and puddings. It will also help to fatten up things that can be prepared using milk, like soups.
Step 2
Mix flax-meal into foods to provide extra calories. By doing this you are also providing an added boost of omega-three fatty acids which can only help your child's overall well being.
Step 3
Try giving your toddler avocado whenever possible. It is high in calories and full of nutrients and vitamins. You can use it as a fun dip or they can eat it mashed.
Step 4
Add butter, margarine, cream or cooking oil to main and side dishes. Your child will not be able to taste the difference, and the extra calories will help them to pack on some weight.
Step 5
At snack time avoid sweet foods as much as possible as they can reduce your toddler's appetite, leading him to eat less during the next meal.
Tips and Warnings
- Toddlers are notorious for having a short attention span and quickly tire sitting at a table. Your best chance for getting them to eat as much high-calorie food as possible is to fix five or six smaller meals rather than three large meals with smaller snacks. Smaller meals can be consumed more quickly than large ones, and can be finished before your toddler gets bored.
- Avoid high fiber foods when trying to help your toddler gain wait. The idea behind very high fiber diets, according to nutritionist and founder of the Anne Collins Weight Loss Diet Program, is that food passes through your system so fast your body does not have time to absorb all the calories in it. While this principle works great for weight loss, it is counter-intuitive when it comes to weight gain.
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