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Original poster

Help me help the kids put on weight.

37 replies

ColdRainAgain · 12/10/2019 11:58

I weigh and measure the kids every 6 months.
Since I last measured them we have moved country, new school. They are both very keen on school lunches after years of packed lunches, but that is the only change we have made.
They have both grown a couple of cm, but not gained any weight since the spring. On the NHS BMI centile, this brings DS1 down to the 6th centile. DS2 is on the 13th.

Typical day:
Toast and scrambled eggs
Lunch and pudding at school
Cracker, cheese and fruit. Or cake and fruit on getting in from school.
Home cooked evening meal - pasta and mince, sausages and mash and veg, stirfried chicken, veg and rice or noodles sort of stuff. Fruit or yoghurt if they want it.

DS1 then often has yoghurt or fruit before bed.

Both active, both fit and strong. Just pretty slender.

How can I get them to put in a bit of weight as they continue to grow taller? DS1 in particular.

OP posts:
NutBiscuit · 12/10/2019 12:02

I don't really underatand why you want them to put on weight? You say yourself that they are fit and healthy, just slender. Some people will be naturally more slender than others, it's not something you need to "fix". My DS sits around the 3rd-5th centile for BMI but eats like a horse and does hours of exercise a week. It's not a problem in my mind? His dad is also built like a beanpole so I guess it's in his genes!

chantico · 12/10/2019 12:07

On the child BMI scale (which I assume you used as it's the one that is behind the NHS page), your DC are both in the 'healthy' category.

So I woukdn't make any changes at all.

Apolloanddaphne · 12/10/2019 12:09

If they are healthy, lively and eat well you don't need to do anything. Some children are just naturally skinny.

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ShinyGiratina · 12/10/2019 12:12

They sound fine. If they were underweight, tired and sickly, that would be a problem, but the diet you suggest is balanced, and if they are energetic and fit, they're not deficient.

My DCs loiter on the bottom end of healthy BMIs. Varied diet, lots of activity, structured, unstructured and functional. It's just the way they were built. DH and I were both lean children and it's natural to fill out to some extent in adulthood.

It is tricky when clothes are badly proportioned for width: length ratio, and society has forgotten how lean healthy children can be.

megletthesecond · 12/10/2019 12:23

Don't panic. If they eat well (and that includes stodgy healthy fatty stuff as well as fruit and veg) are active and in rude health it's fine.
12yr old DS sits on the 10th centile for weight and he's tall, on the 90th for height. He's in rude health, he's just very lean.

Original poster
ColdRainAgain · 12/10/2019 13:49

Even if historically they have sat around 9th and 25th? So have dropped centiles??
It's more that they haven't put any weight on whilst growing taller than the actual numbers that concerns me.

OP posts:
FAQs · 12/10/2019 13:56

How old are they, seems odd to weigh and measure them every 6 months unless for medical reasons??

My daughter was always on the low side, the standard school weigh ins she has always be between 2 & 7 and is a size 6 - 8 15 year old, I've not weighed her myself since she was about 3 years old. She eats healthy and is active.

Bloodybridget · 12/10/2019 13:59

I think maybe weighing and measuring them every six months is unnecessary, unless they seem listless, get sick a lot, or have poor appetites. You can make sure what they eat is calorie-dense; I assume they have full-fat everything? Try adding grated cheese to mashed potatoes, a slug of cream to a soup, offering snacks such as avocados, peanut butter, nuts?

Remember most of us, including most children, are overweight so it's easy to see very slim children as underweight.

Original poster
ColdRainAgain · 12/10/2019 14:55

Weve always just measured them - got a poster stuck on the wall. It takes about 5 seconds.
DS1 asked about weight one day, so if they want to jump on the scales, we add that info as well. Nothing sinister, not enforced.
Ok, so chill for a bit.
What do I do in 6 months if they are STILL the same weight and grown even taller??? When does it become a problem?

They both eat loads, including cake and full fat everything. Some days they can outeat me, who definitely needs to loose weight, not gain it!

OP posts:
user1474894224 · 12/10/2019 15:02

Lighten up. My favourite phrase for my kids is that 'you are the perfect weight for your height'. I don't weigh them but they go on the scales just because they can. If your kids eat a healthy balanced diet, exercise well, are well and have energy then don't worry. You really don't need to track them any more.

RandomMess · 12/10/2019 15:02

You can only looking at centiles if you look at height and weight centiles...

It is very normal for kids to gain weight then shoot up height wise so they effectively go up and down in "skinniness".

If the eat plenty of varied food and are healthy and active unless they are overweight there isn't an issue!

Pinkflipflop85 · 12/10/2019 15:03

Why are you weighing them every 6 months? Aren't you worried about them developing issues around weight/food later in life?! Shock

simplekindoflife · 12/10/2019 15:06

What's their height to weight ratio?

Aquamarine1029 · 12/10/2019 15:06

They are perfectly healthy. Why you would want them to gain weight their bodies don't need is very puzzling.

simplekindoflife · 12/10/2019 15:08

For example my ds is on 91st for weight but also 91st for height so he's perfectly in proportion. If he dropped to the 6th for weight, he'd be grossly underweight but this would be fine for someone on the 6th for height.

MaryLane93 · 12/10/2019 15:08

I weigh and measure my kids more than every 6 months out of curiosity or if they've been ill and look a bit skinner than normal.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 12/10/2019 15:10

DS is very slender

Has gone from not eating much and being very active to eating constantly and much of the time being horizontal

Weight still that same just taller

I was very slender was allowed to eat more biscuits/chocolate than my cousin who wasn’t and had to watch her weight from a young age - now I struggle with weight she doesn’t so much as she doesn’t rely on sugary foods

user1480880826 · 12/10/2019 15:15

You risk giving your kids an unhealthy relationship with food and weight if you keep this up. They are healthy according to the NHS, they are also fit and active. Please just leave them alone and let them eat healthy food when they’re hungry. Stop weighing and measuring them. You sound really obsessive. I honestly didn’t think anyone referred to centiles once their kids were over a year old.

daisypond · 12/10/2019 15:18

It is unlikely to matter in the long run. One of mine was on the 2nd centile for ages for weight and then dropped right off the bottom of the chart for a long time. Height was always more. But when adolescence hit, it reversed. Height was on 9th and weight was on 25th. A couple of years later in mid teens, back on 9th for weight again. Mine was under care of the hospital, and they had no concerns on height: weight ratio.

sweetkitty · 12/10/2019 15:20

I have four skinny children, DD3 would probably be on the 1st centile at a guess she’s 11 and weights about 4 1/2 stone. DD1 is 15 and barely 7stone and 5ft 3. The other two I don’t know what they weigh. Getting clothes to fit them has always been a nightmare.

DH and I were both skinny children, we talk about healthy food and nourishing your body but that snacks are fine too.

YouJustDoYou · 12/10/2019 15:22

You have no need to weigh children so constantly, unless they are presenting symptoms of illness (lethargy, etc).

Eatcakeandgetpissed · 12/10/2019 15:30

When my son was seen by the dietician at the hospital they told us to put extra butter on his toast/veg, peanut butter with fruit and to use full fat cheese & milk.

I also give him a daily milkshake before bed. Just regular yazoo powder, full fat milk, banana (or ice cream in summer) and some grinded almonds.

soggypizza · 12/10/2019 15:31

Both my kids are skinny - dd now looks a more rounded size 6! Ds literally cannot find trousers to fit him waist and leg length, I think he’s officially underweight - both are healthy and happy with a good appetite. I refuse to over fuss about these things, they have zero food issues.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 12/10/2019 15:41

You are doing great with their diet, just carry on as you are.
I clicked on this expecting it to be similar to my ds2 who I discovered was well down into the first centile.
Having taken him to the doctor he has had a few tests and now sees a dietician, but nobody is panicking as he is fit and healthy (and he has made it into the second centile now, woohoo). 6th and 13th are really nothing to worry about as long as they are healthy and growing.

hazeyjane · 12/10/2019 15:41

My ds is under a dietician because of his poor growth and restricted diet. He is on the very bottom centile for height and weight (atm....although he has been under) and didn't grow height wise for a year.

Concerns have heightened when there is a lack of growth height wise, when he was pale and lethargic with obvious hollowness of eyes and scrawniness of tops of legs and when he drops foods or reduces the amount he eats (which is happening now).

It really sounds as though you have no need to be concerned. If you are then you could go to the GP. Is also say it is quite hard to get an accurate height and weight at home.