High Calorie Diet Ideas For Children

The parents of young children who need to feed their children high-calorie foods to help them gain weight can easily fall into a trap of unhealthy eating. Fortunately, there are high-calorie foods that are also nutritious and enjoyable for your children to eat on a regular basis.

Cereal

Breakfast cereals are full of vitamins and minerals and tend to be popular among children. For example, a full bowl of corn flakes contains 100 calories for just the flakes and an additional 110 calories for the low fat milk that accompanies it. Other high calorie cereal ideas are oat bran cereal (which has an average of 145 calories for a full bowl) and granola (which has 150 calories for the same portion size). For additional nutrition and calories, you can add dried fruits like raisins (which have 85 calories for every 2 tbsp).

Nuts

Snacking on nut butters and nuts can provide another healthy source of calories, as well as fiber and protein. A half cup of dry roasted cashews, for example, contains 375 calories, and a 2-tbsp peanut butter serving contains a total of 210 calories.

Whole Milk Dairy Products

String cheese has a total of 80 calories per serving. Cottage cheese has even more than that, with a total of 120 calories in each serving. Whole milk yogurt has 200 calories for each 8-oz. cup. These types of dairy products provide children enough protein and calcium to help their bones grow strong and healthy.

High Carbohydrate Snacks

While eating too much carbohydrate consumption can cause health complications, high-carbohydrate beverages and snacks can increase the amount of calories your child consumes and aid in weight gain. Apple and orange juices, for example, contain approximately 120 calories per-8 oz. glass. A smoothie with frozen yogurt or sherbet can contain as much as 300 total calories. Breakfast bars or granola make for a good high calorie snack, with each bar containing an average of 150 calories.

Pasta

Pasta can provide children with many calories quite easily. For example, a 2-oz. spaghetti serving has 90 calories and most people consume twice that amount per sitting, in addition to meatballs and sauce (which contribute even more calories). A couple of servings of pasta each week can thus add many calories to an underweight child's diet.