should I be concerned about my son's weight

[sunflowerfi]

My 6,5 year old son has been a difficult eater from birth He was 4 weeks early and was never good at taking his milk feeds, struggled with solids as soon as I introduced lumps and has always had a very small appetite and is very limited in what he will eat.
In terms of savory food there are few things he really enjoys so he lives on a diet of sandwiches and things like chicken nuggets. If I let him he would eat things like biscuits and cakes til they came out of his ears though.
People are always commenting on how thin he is. He is tall for his age about 125cm and weighs just over 3 stone. I have to buy 6-7 trousers because of his height but they are huge on his waist.
Would it be worth taking him to the doctors. I'm slim but certainly not naturally slim-I have to be careful what I eat and his dad only needs to look at a cake and puts on 10lbs

The BMI and centime calculator I just used put your ds at below the 1st centile for weight with a BMI of 12.1.

You are obviously concerned, so I would go and see the GP for a chat.

Centile, not centime.

Does he lack energy? I'd be inclined to let him eat what he wants if he's underweight - but if its only other people's comments you are worried about whilst he is happy and full of energy I wouldn't worry. A long term malnourished child wouldn't be tall (though I'm not sure 125cm is particularly tall for 6.5, it certainly isn't short).

Overall I'd say let him eat cake :o but of course see your GP if you are worried, especially if he lacks energy.

I could have written your post sunflowerfi. I have a very picky eater. 5.5yrs old. He is 110cm and 2st10lbs. I could weep for him when I see him so thin. However he has tons of energy and doc says he is ok. He would eat cake, biscuits crisps etc all day too. Sometimes I think I should let him so he puts on some weight. It's so hard I have every sympathy and bugger all advice. Im interested to see what others say.

He has loads of energy but just looks so thin compared to other kids his age. He is the tallest child in his class even though he is in the middle age wise.
I have an 8 year old daughter too she is fairly slim but not skinny and eats like a horse and no one else in the family is underweight on either my side or their dad's side. I sometimes wonder if being born 4 weeks early still has an impact on his development x

My eldest was/is like that... tallest in the class and desperately thin.. we look at photos of her now, back when she was 6-9 and she looks like an advert for famine relief ..seriously! She was THE most difficult to feed baby, toddler, child.. at one point she would only eat white food (basically rice and hard boiled eggs..just the whites) for nearly a year! We saw docs and a feeding clinic to no avail.

She's now 22.. and 5 ft 10..and guess what.. very very slim . Eats normally now and is a good cook, but is just built like a whippet! She is also always on the go, sporty, and absolutely fine!

My others are all slim to skinny also but always ate better.. I think some kids are just like that and as long as they are well and have energy it's ok.. tho a pain to find clothes that fit!

Have you plotted his height and weight in your red book? Agree that a visit to the GP sounds the way forward

I just looked in my son's yellow book (equivalent of UK red book) and the graphs in the back put 125cm as almost75th percentile for 6.5 and 19 kg as 3rd percentile, which does plot as on the boarder between underweight and severely underweight.

However the fact he is full of energy suggests he is not undernourished, and if he has always been like this (rather than having lost weight), I would think its "just how he is" as he wouldn't have grown to above average height if he were malnourished.

How was his dad at that age? I have a very skinny boy (fussy eater too) but looking at pictures of my husband at that age he looks just the same! Dad filled out ok so I'm less worried.

My DS is almost exactly the same as yours, he's slightly taller (128cm) and just about 21 kg and just turned 7. He eats loads though but never puts weight on, he also looks skeletal, his joints are all knobbly and you can see his ribs front and back. I've been trying to feed him up a bit and making a concerted effort to get more calories into him - we've switched back to full fat milk, making puddings with cream, giving him snacks of cheese rather than fruit etc. he's not a big fan of protein but he does like eggs so if he's hungry I'll make him a poached egg.
Especially if yours doesn't eat much, try and make sure that the things he is eating are calorie-dense. Does he drink milk or eat dairy products?

By the way next slim fit trousers are the only ones my DS can keep up and they're still pulled in to the tightest size but at least they don't look like there's room for a whole other child in the bottom!

I would pop him to the gp to make sure he's ok.
From the diet you're describing he seems to only like dry food. Do you think he could have some tactile / sensory difficulties which is common in prem children.
It might be worth discussing this with gp. He may benefit from a referral to a dietician but also occupational therapy. Dietician just look at nutrients and volume whilst an OT can assess why he won't eat different textures.

My eldest was the same his whole childhood and is now a strapping six footer. My average-height mother-in-law was around 6 stone most of her long, healthy life, so I assumed it was just genetics at play. If he is healthy, happy and growing well, he is not malnourished. If you are concerned, obviously talk to your gp to set your mind at rest.

His dad was thin at that age and also a fussy eater. He's on holiday at the moment with his dad in France-will no doubt some back even skinnier as he won't be keen on the food there so I will take him to the doctors when he gets back.