If your pediatrician has told you that your child is underweight, you’re probably nervous and don’t know what to feed your child. It’s easy to bulk up your child’s thin frame while at the same time creating a healthy eating pattern. There are lots of simple and delicious things you can do to add healthy calories to your child’s diet.
Things to Remember
1. Your new mantra is to offer foods that are nutrient dense and also high in calories. Nutrient dense foods are high in nutrients such as protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. An example of a nutrient dense, high calorie food is avocado. An example of a high calorie food that is not nutrient dense is potato chips.
2. Underweight should not become overweight. The temptation may be to give your child anything he wants to eat. He needs extra calories, so he can have as much ice cream and cookies as he wants, right? Not really. While this might add pounds, it runs the risk of creating a preference for high calorie, low nutrient dense foods. Your child may end up overweight if he continues choosing these types of foods on a regular basis.
3. Focus on building muscle. Make sure each meal and snack has a good protein source like meat, cheese, nuts, legumes, nut butter, fish, or yogurt. Spark your child’s interest in strength training, so the weight he’s gaining is muscle. Strength training may be safe to start around age 7-8 if it’s done in an age-appropriate way.
4. Food vs. liquid nutritional supplements. Your pediatrician may suggest you offer your child an oral liquid supplement like PediaSure to add calories. Consider this a short-term measure and continue to offer the high calorie options below. You want your child to continue to eat regular meals and snacks and learn to eat the healthy nutrient dense foods which will help him gain weight.
What foods should I offer my underweight child?
1. Avocado – 1 avocado contains 250 calories, and is packed full of heart healthy fat (monounsaturated fat), potassium, folic acid, and fiber. Many kids love eating avocado sliced up on crackers (try adding cheese and tomatoes for a great lunch). Try avocado cut into chunks and added to tacos, in guacamole, or mashed and spread on a rice cake for babies.
2. Smoothies – This is a great way to add lots of nutrition, and you can make a smoothie from what you already have in your fridge. Instead of using milk as your base, use Greek yogurt and half and half or cream. Add whatever fresh or frozen fruits you think your child will like (good combinations are strawberry and banana, mango and orange, or blueberry and apple).
3. Higher calorie French toast – When you’re making the batter for your French toast, add heavy cream instead of milk, and fry it in a mixture of butter and canola or avocado oil.
4. Nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew, etc.) – You can add any nut butter to pretty much anything: as a dip for pretzels, in a sandwich, on slices of apple, or even added to smoothies.
5. Trail mix – We are big fans of trail mix because you can customize it to what your child likes. Focus on building a trail mix full of protein and calories, including options like grains (mini Triscuits, Cheerios or another favorite cereal), dried fruit (apricots, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, banana chips), and protein sources (dried chickpeas, dried soybeans, walnuts, almonds, peanuts).
Remember to provide your child with a variety of high calorie foods that are full of nutrients. This will help your child gain weight and promote a lifelong pattern of healthy eating!
For more great nutrition ideas for your underweight child, feel free to contact us here.