Underweight for height!

[Luigi40]

Help, my 4yr 9mnth son has just had his school "medical" assesment - he is underweight for his height is a very fussy eater - any advice on weight gain, and eating properly would be appreciated - school nurse has made sweeping assumptions and say's this is a "parenting issue!!!"

Cheers

[Tortington]

by how much?

[Luigi40]

Height in 75 centile weight somewhere in the second -- happy, healthy active boy - im not worried but nurse made a bit of an issue of it making poor parenting noises

[NannyL]

be sure you dont give him low fat and low calorie anything!

Add lots of full fat milk and butter to mash potatoe
milk puddings such as custard and rice pudding made with full fat milk, and maybe even a bit of cream mixed in (yum)may help!

[bookthief]

Don't feel you have to bulk him up if you don't think he needs it. You say he's active and healthy. All good stuff.

Maybe he's just going to be long and lean. Would that fit with anyone else in your family?

[berolina]

oh goodness. I bet we'll be having this in a couple of years - probably with height as well. ds is 2, exceptionally healthy but just little all round (just about on the charts for height, just about off them for weight) - doctor said 'well, he's absolutely fine but if he suffers from bullying at school later on because of it we can give him growth hormone' WTF!!!

Sorry, OT. Tips: cook food in plenty of olive oil or butter; spread bread quite thickly with butter; full fat milk only; creme fraiche (nice mixed into mashed potatoes or eaten with fruit); add pine nuts, seeds such as pumpkin seeds etc. to (e.g.) pasta dishes.

[Izabella]

Grated cheese is a fab way to add some calories to savoury dishes. As for sweets things, youghurts / fromage frias are great (they can contain about 80-110 calories per pot) and so are crumbles (esp with custard!).

I totally disagree with the school nurse, It is very easy to criticise without having all the facts. I am a qualified nursery nurse & DD is on the 50% for height and the 0.4 for weight. She too is a fussy eater but its got nothing at all to do with parenting skills or lack there of. Some children are just picky eaters. I would give that school nurse a talking to. She has no right to make such unhelpful suggestions.

What is important is that, as you said, you have a happy & healthy little boy.

[lexcat]

dd 6 has three centile different from her heigth and weight. She eats like horse and has a healthy diet. I always buy full fat milk,cheese youghurt for her. She very active doing well a school and very healthy with 100% attendence a school this year.
I myself was alwayes under weight as a child and now as an adult am a good 3stone over weight. But at the same time I have friend who was on over weigth child who now has problem with keeping weight on.
Too many assumptions are made sometimes by the medics

[tuppy]

Well I have 4 very lean children - it's just the way they are. The older 3 especially eat LOTS - at the weekend my full-on-Friday fridge empties steadily until by Sunday evening it looks like a plague of locusts have been in there.
Mine are 3.5, 8, 12 and 13.

Agree about full fat everything, and lots of hummus, cheese, eggs, yogurts, protein along with as many veg as you can get them to eat.

[Gwu]

DS (4.5yo) sees dietician due to multiple food allergies. Underweight (weight below 2nd %ile), 50% height. Dietician says fry food where possible, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to each tablespoon of food and supplement with Duocal. We do what we can.

DS is a very fussy eater, never complains of hunger - he just gets more lethargic and more pale. He is very active and happy (unless he's skipped his lunch which happens when he's supposed to eat it at nursery).

[Honneybunny]

Hi! As long as he seems happy and healthy I don't see why his height vs weight should be made into a "parenting problem"! Our ds1 is 91st for heigth and 9th for weight, and has been since he was under a year old. He looks tall and skinny, just like dh, and like i used to look.

Agree on the fatty food. Our ds1 fortunately is a very un-fussy eater (if there is such a word) but now occasionally started to be quite fussy (until he tasts the food: then he finds out he actually likes it.... funny boy). He usually eats lots of the things he likes.

We try to not make a big deal out of him eating all he is served on his plate if there is something he doesn't like, and have lots of ice cream for desert (which is probably the reason for me not being skinny anymore, come to think of it....). And he loves cheese, so we give him lots of that as well.