Borderline underweight child

[Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself]

My DS is almost 10 and due to some conditions plus genetics is tall for his age and very very thin looking.

He is being teased by some boys at his school for being skinny, and his BMI is in the region of being where normal meets underweight.

I've told him his body is great as it is but he is often angrily hungry and snacks on things like toast, fruit and porridge then won't eat all of his dinner.

Any ideas to help him put on a bit of weight, and potentially muscle?

He is vegetarian so meat and fish not an option.

Lots of eggs, pasta, dairy. He's a bit young to be honing his muscles but those things would definitely help put a bit of meat on his bones. Kids can be so bloody cruel, I hope your son can let it not bother him too much

My DS is 7 and in a similar position. We use those extra calorie shakes from Boots, can’t recall the name but it’s basically protein powder for kids.

Is it that shake called Paediasure? Does it work?

Yes and yes! Also powdered peanut butter (available on Amazon or Whole Foods) it’s huge in calories, useful to add to smoothies, ice cream, yogurt, custard…etc.
I’m at a stage where I don’t give a crap what crap my son eats, as long as he gains weight or at least maintains weight so if you’re health conscious, ignore any suggestions I give.

If your child dips into the underweight or close range, you can get a similar product but on prescription, available in milkshake, yogurt and powder form.

Thanks, we try to do low UPF food, he does have plain full fat greek yoghurt but I am wary of giving him too much cheese because I don't think it's particularly healthy, but maybe I'm not helping the situation as a result.

Part of the issue is that his sibling is not underweight in the slightest and at the higher end of healthy BMI, so it's quite tricky to give him calorific food but not the sibling.

I think you need to relax your rules a bit. Clearly this child requires more calories than he is getting at the moment. With a vegetarian diet it is going to be more of an issue and to restrict cheese as well seems very unhelpful. UPF food might just be something you need to consider for a short time. Once your son hits puberty he will need even more calories.

He might just be 'racing snake' build - my DH is. He's just made that way and has always been very slim. He is underweight according to BMI and there's no reason for it at all. He just is.

Better to be slightly underweight as a child than obese.

I would split this into two separate issues. The behaviour of the other boys which needs addressing as it's not acceptable and supporting a healthy weight.

You make a good point.

He is absolutely adamant we won't speak to the school about it. He told one of the boys in question to stop commenting and it seemed to work for a bit but has started again. He's also heard this boy say other wrong things. The boy is question is I think autistic so I'm trying to cut him some slack. Apparently they had a bit of an altercation today.

I think cheese might be one of those foods where too much isn't great for adults, but it's not so much a problem with kids.

DS1 (also nearly 10) is similar, does lots of sports, is always hungry and is a healthy weight but looks skinny - he quite often has a bowl of porridge as a pre bed time snack, or a hot chocolate made with whole milk (I do one spoonful of Cocoa powder, one spoonful of sugar)

Not necessarily if we're talking about something like Marfan Syndrome. Malnutrition and lack of muscle strength make it harder to maintain a healthy heart.

What about smoothies with a dollop of 100% peanut butter and full fat yogurt in? That’s a good way to add calories but is also natural.

When my friend's son was in a similar position at a similar age, the GP recommended McFlurrys !

My son has always been skinny, currently 6ft3 and not quite 9 stone. He’s finally putting on weight, 2 full meals a day at the weekend / school hols and pretty much double what everyone has for dinner seems to be helping. His sister does sometimes complain about his portion size vs hers, particularly if it’s her favourite food - but she can be reasoned with, she’s very bright so I’ve showed her their respective bmi requirements.