If your child's weight is below the third to fifth percentile for his age range, he might have a condition called failure to thrive. Children who are underweight should meet regularly with a pediatrician and pediatric nutritionist to plan and monitor a treatment. One common treatment recommendation is a high-calorie diet, often including the pediatric supplement PediaSure, which is balanced for optimum childhood nutrition. Rather than altering the composition of PediaSure to increase calories, use it to boost the calorie count in your child's overall diet.
Step 1
Give your child PediaSure instead of whole milk. This increases his caloric intake from 20 calories per ounce to 30 calories per ounce.
Step 2
Replace milk in recipes with equal mounts of PediaSure. This might thicken batters and smoothies, so you might need slightly less flour or slightly longer cooking times than usual. Experiment until you develop a recipe your child will eat.
Step 3
Increase the amount of calories in PediaSure meals by adding other nutritious supplements. For example, raise the calorie count in a PediaSure-and-banana smoothie by adding a spoonful of peanut butter.
Step 4
Complement PediaSure with other nutritious, high-calorie foods. Give your child avocado, nut butters or cheese as snacks. Boost the amount of protein in your child's diet and limit the amount of refined sugar, processed grains and saturated fats.
Tips and Warnings
- Many underweight children who are otherwise developing normally do not have failure to thrive and don't need treatment. Talk to your pediatrician about the causes of your child's low weight and whether a problem exists. Follow your pediatric nutritionist's recommendations for your child's diet.
- Don't give PediaSure to a child under 2 years of age.
