How to build up my DS5

[wombpaloumbpa]

DS5 is has natural very slender build. He looks skin and bone. He's never had any chub to him as a baby or toddler. He eats fairly well, sometimes big portions an adult might eat.

However lately he's had a long run of illness. Tonsillitis twice, never ending coughs and finally a nasty D&V bug that lasted 5 days. He's back to eating properly again but he looks so pale and thin.

I'd love to hear ideas for calorie dense foods to build him up. Healthy ones but not low calorie! He loves crisps cakes etc. I'm letting him have plenty of that but want his calories to also meet his nutritional needs!

Can he snack on cold chicken, or sausages?
I think protein might be the way to go (I am not a dietician)

Houmous and dippy veg/pittas
boiled eggs

For meals - a friend used to put a blob of butter in baked beans - tasted nice. Anything with a cheesy sauce (add a spoonful of mascarpone to up the calories)

Sounds exactly like my Dd! She drops weight so quickly it’s v stressful.

Her dr said do give sugary things because it stimulates the appetite.

High fat everything, butter in everything, fortify mash with cheese and cream. Peanut butter, nuts as a snack, extra cheese on pizza. If he eats avocados they make a great breakfast on toast.

If he’s a grazer like Dd is then offer snacks throughout the day, Dd has things like full fat greek yogurt with cream in, honey and peanut butter on top, kettle chips with creamy dips, I add extra oil to hummus to up the cals.

It usually takes a couple of weeks for Dd to regain the weight and then we go back to her regular high cal diet.

Full fat diary and carbs are your best bet, such as -
Mac and cheese with cauliflower or broccoli and cheesy breadcrumb crust
Home made pizza with some salad
Pasta with tomato sauce mixed with mascarpone and Edam.
Burritos filed with rice with beans/meat cheese guacamole, garlic mayo, sour crème etc
You could also add a bit of extra oil and butter to any dish and give him full fat milk to drink throughout the day.

Make sure he has a good multi vitamin and lots of fruit and veg to build up his immunity.

Wonderful! Thanks so much I've already started with some of these suggestions. Will have him back to his usual skinny (but not worryingly so!) self in no time.