Skinny 8 year old boy

[Spudnik21]

I am just looking for a bit of reassurance/ ideas to put some weight on my DS .
He is 8, and so skinny you can see his ribs at times.
He has breakfast at home ( this morning 2 wheatabix ) then gets toast at before school for his second breakfast. Lunch is a packed lunch which apart from the apple is eaten. ( sandwich, yoghurt, cheese, crackers , kitkat, apple) He says he has a carrot from the afternoon snack bowl at school. Then he goes yo after school where he gets a substantial snack ( their words, filled pitta, or pasta or a slice of pizza) then he has his tea at home which last night was 2 eggs some chips and toast .
He is a very active child, he does jujitsu , archet, cubs and brass band, swimming with school.
We don't do puddings in our house I am thinking I might have to introduce it for him.
Is it normal for them to be this skinny ? As a baby he was a 10lb crumper!

My 9 year old daughter is the same. Her ribs are visible. She eats a decent varied diet and is pretty active. She is slim but healthy. I see no need to fatten her up!

My son's paediatrician told me when he was a similar age that she'd be more concerned if she couldn't see his ribs.* *

What is his height and weight on his growth chart and is he putting on weight or plateaued? Also our ideals of what is healthy is warped, so if he’s on his correct curve and still gaining then all good.

If not and he’s not growing or gaining weight then see his GP. Covid seems to have triggered more children getting diabetes/Coeliac etc and they are easy things to rule in and out

I thought it was normal and healthy to see a child's ribs. Too many kids are overweight and obese now

I also thought it was normal to see a child's ribs. And you say 'at times', what do you mean by that? If I bend over and touch my toes you could see my ribs and I'm obese.

Are you skinny as a family? Might just be genetic?

Yes, as others have said, you SHOULD be able to see a child’s ribs. If you are concerned he’s underweight, what is his height/weight?

You should be able to see the ribs of a 7 or 8 yo. That is a healthy weight. If your child is happy, energetic, with strong teeth, hair and nails, they do not need to put on any weight.

That's how they are meant to be. Children are not meant to have layers of fat.

My dd was/is the same.
When she started secondary the nurse asked her lots of questions about her diet at home and told her she was underweight.
My dd told the nurse that her whole family is slim.

20 years later dd has a very petite toddler. It’s just genetics.

You should be able to see the ribs of a child, they should still be clearly visible at 10. Now that people as so overweight the have no idea what is normal any more.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12226744

NHS have a kids bmi calculator.

my son is very skinny but eats like an adult! It’s very normal when they are young and growing

https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-body-mass-index/calculate-bmi-for-children-teenagers/

Check his bmi centile. It's normal to be able to see a child's ribs, particularly at age 4 to 8 as they are at their slimmest then.

Check him against the weight/height chart in the back of his Red Book. He sounds absolutely fine.

My ds is 15, I can still see all his ribs, all the time. We are generally a fairly tall, lean family. DS is currently on the 52nd percentile.

I didn't introduce regular puddings until ds hit the hollowed-legged teen stage at the end of last year.

Sounds mean but we are so used to seeing overweight children that our perception of healthy has changed. I remember a celebrity (gweneyth Paltrow?) posting a pick of her kids backs at the beach a few years ago and she was slated online as you can see their ribs…. But actually it’s perfectly healthy to do so. He seems to be eating well and active (so assume he has plenty of enegry) but I guess if worried ask your gp or health visitor xx

Check if he is underweight, Some children are just skinny by nature. Both my two were.

When DS1 got dangerously skinny - which he often did after a growth spurt, we added a milkshake to his breakfast: 1 small banana or half a large one, scoop of full fat dairy vanilla ice cream, very heaped teaspoon of smooth peanut butter, topped up with milk and blended. He could drink it quite easily without feeling overfull, but it must have had a good 250-300 cals in it or more.

Add peanut butter and jam to the morning toast if he likes them. Make sure the cereal milk is full fat. Fry eggs, toss veg in a bit of butter, add pesto to mash or grate some cheese on it etc. Look for nutritious ways to add a bit more fat as it lacks bulk but has high calories.

No need to fatten him up but maybe you need to give him more protein and less empty carbs

He sounds like he's healthy. He's eating plenty and is active. I think being overweight has become the norm to the point that seeing someone's ribs can seem really odd but it's actually completely normal. Unless the child is actually being starved of course.

My DSD6 is the same. Eats plenty, is quite active and has visible ribs. I've found that DSD is generally quite good at regulating her food intake. She will eat until she's full and will tell us when she's hungry. Some days it seems like she's not eaten much and other days she's had 3 breakfast.

He sounds perfectly normal.

My kids were like this as were 95% of children when I was growing up in the 1980s. Have a look in the red book and as long as he isn't sliding off the bottom of the charts, has plenty of energy, eats his meals and is growing, don't give it another thought.

Please don't try to 'fatten him up'. I was very very slim growing up - no health issues, just a v fast metabolism. I was horribly self conscious as my family were always trying to get me to put on weight. I was bullied at school, and by my own family, and made to feel like I was disgusting and sickly. I would stuff myself at every. single. meal. to try to put on weight so the comments would stop, but it never worked.
Please be very careful with this. Even if you don't verbalise it, just the suggestion of giving him food to 'fatten up' will have an effect on his self esteem. If he's healthy and happy then leave it be, and make peace with it.
Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and they are all beautiful.

It's normal to be able to see ribs. We have generally lost sight of normal.

I can see the ribs on all 3 of my dc but only one of them very slim(other two more average) so I wouldn’t use that as a guide.
I don’t try to fatten my slim child up but do add extra calories with full fat milk, proper butter, full fat yogurt etc which stops him falling into the underweight category.

My 9 year old stepson is very skinny. He eats really well and varied. Much better than my daughters. Think it’s just his metabolism.

Sounds completely normal. Is he telling you he's hungry? They usually aren't backward in coming forward about that.

Mine's 8 and eats similarly, though a little bit more at breakfast - this morning 2 crumpets, a bowl of cereal, a smoothie and a slice of toast. We do give yoghurt or fromage frais as a pudding but I'm generally more concerned with getting him to eat some fruit and vegetables! He's not too bad but he'll never get to 5 a day without being nagged.

Yes , You can see the ribs on a healthy weight child

But

You can also see ribs on an underweight child

Have you actually looked at a height/weight chart for his age group op?

I'm amazed so many people are telling the op he's fine. He may well be. He may also be underweight. How can you assess a child without seeing them, weighing them, measuring them? Op I have absolutely no idea if your child is underweight but when mine was that age, a nurse would periodically come into the school and weigh and measure them? Has that happened?