Dr says ds 5 needs to put weight on,how do I do this healthily and do I need to?

[MilaMae]

He is the spit of dp and his dad who are small, slim, wiry and superfit (fil is 75 and regularly cycles 16 miles). Dp and fil have washboard stomaches not an inch of fat .

Both never put weight on whatever they eat. They eat healthily most of the time but enjoy treats as much as anybody else.

Ds eats whatever I give him so he has a healthy diet(w/m bread loads of fruit/veg etc with the normal treats cookies after school,sweets on Sat,fishfingers and chips once a week.

I'm just thinking whatever I do he won't put on weight as he's like his dad. I have no idea how to get any weight on healthily. I'm not going to give him chips more than once a week because of his twin brother and sister and also because his cholestral level when he's older could be crap whatever his weight iykwim.

He's not a milk fan which doesn't help. What healthy foods can add on weight and do I need to bother?

I agree, he does not have enough fat in his diet. I would give porridge made with whole milk and cream, with sugar/maple syrup/golden syrup or fruit compote in for breakfast. I would also add a trad pudding to his evening meal, i.e crumble and custard, rice pudding, stewed fruit and custard, cake etc

Right length is 110.4

weight 18.2

25th centile (whatever that means)

What sort of puddings should I do they have tinned peaches or share a mango/pineapple when I'm feeling flush? He likes rice pudding and crumbles. God it's bad enough getting 1 course on the table at 5.30, I could do a batch on Sundays and freeze I guess)

If he'll eat yoghurt, give him yoghurt at breakfast. More dairy should help. If you can't be bothered to make puddings then Rachel's rice pudding is organic and my DS loves it.

Re sugary foods and teeth, my dentist told me that it's better for them to eat them all at once rather than spread out over the day.

My sister used to make great jugs of what she called 'fruity juice' for my DN (who is like a string bean) as a way of getting calories into him when he was that age as he was always tired at school. Basically full cream milk, banana, strawberries, any other fruit you have lying around. If he has that at breakfast and when he gets home, then that will address the milk problem.

He probably needs a bit more calcium too by the sounds of things.

The thing is he's cranky as hell in the mornings the dry cereal and apple is a result of badgering iykwim.

Just want to add a huge thankyou for all the advice-some great ideas here.

MilaMae - he is heavier by a pound than my 5.5 year old ds, who is 112.5 cm, so a little taller than yours.

My ds is skinny, but is healthy and happy. He is very active and puts weight on quite slowly.

It really doesn't sound to me like you need to worry.

How about eggs for breakfast?

I used to love eating nearly-hard-boiled eggs with butter ... Cholestral fest. Yum!

That's encouraging Nonick

And, there is nothing wrong with being on the 25th centile. Someone has to be there. If he was under the scales, then I would think you should worry, but he sounds perfectly fine to me.

Mila, 25th centile means that 75% of children are heavier than your DS, but equally that 25% of children are lighter than him.
As others have said, there is nothing wrong with being on 25th centile, I would be more concerned re energy/tiredness.
And, yes, agree, he could do with more fat in his diet, good healthy fat, ie nuts, vegetable oils in cooking, eggs, dairy in whatever shape or form etc.
A healthy diet for a child is v different froma healthy diet for an adult, so do not worry about cholesterol when feeding him!

Bonsoir Anna - delighted to hear that porridge with full fat milk and honey is diet food
Agree with NoNick re 25th centile. Unless he is very tired, lethargic and getting ill a lot it sounds to me like it is genetics, although as I said I have a similarly shaped child and may be a bit defensive...
have to go now

No, extra added sugar is a crap idea. Try adding fats to whatever he eats, eg. dress his veg with a little oil, give him lots of nut butters (healthier than the dairy kind) and add ground up nuts and seeds to his cereal or use them to bulk out flapjacks, biscuits, cakes. This will also add protein, iron and calcium, as well as a variety of other nutrients. My dsis has the same problem with her DS and now ground up nuts get stirred into everything.

Too much dairy not a good idea as too much saturated fat, which is a long term risk even for skinny people. Use oils instead of butter.

Porridge is very filling for the calories, which is why anorexics eat it! Really, you need more calorie-dense foods.

I'd give him a sausage butty for breakfast, or bacon on toast (buttered).

If he doesn't fancy that, then brioche with a smoothie (before toothbrushing).

Our eldest ds had a lot of health probs and was given a high calorie powder which we mixed into almost everything.

Our ds (14) eats unbelievable amounts, far more than his dad and is still tall & skinny

We had to see a dietician as DS2 was so skinny. He was poorly at the time however.

The dietician was insistent that we used cream in porridge, rice puddings, mashed potato etc alongside proper butter.

All veg/ pasta to be coated in olive oil before serving and that actually it was good to give cakes, lots of butter and jam on toast. It is clearly very important to look after their teeth but you as long as you are careful about cleaning teeth and a drink of water after eating sugary things you should be okay.

Having said all of that at the time DS2 was on the 0.4th centile for weight and 50th for height, so very very thin. He is now on the 25th centile for weight and has been discharged from that particular clinic and classed as thriving. Only took him 5 years!!

So what do people give their 5 year olds. I looked milamae ds daily food intake and thought it was fine.

I remember reading that young childen shouldn't have too much wholemeal bread/rice/pasta etc because the high fibre content can fill them up too much. Maybe use half white sometimes?

No, you definitely shouldn't be giving high-fibre foods like müsli, wholemeal bread, brown rice, to young children, for the reasons you mention and because the fibre can prevent all important nutrients from being metabolised by the child.

Someone told me once that their doctor said......one sure bet for putting on weight is to eat flapjacks, and lots of it.
Imagine that, being allowed to eat flapjacks all day. with syrup, with chocolate, with honey, with fruit & nuts. Heaven!

I would agree that there's no need to worry particularly if he is on 25th centile and not dropping. However if you do feel he needs more energy, I would focus on protein (how much meat is he getting?), dairy and other fats (incl things like oily fish, avocado, oils and nuts), and carbs such as pasta.

If he is eating a lot of fruit/veg and wholemeals, I think I'm right in saying that fibre can be quite filling in terms of volume but doesn't put on much weight, so if he is having too much fibre-rich food it might cause him to have less of the calorie-rich foods. So if you are really worried it might be worth replacing some of that (though he will still need plenty of course!) with more calorie-dense foods.

Adding lots of sugar is not a good idea though, it might make him put on weight but definitely not the best way to do it! But a bit of extra sugar, if it's in things that have other good stuff in (e.g. milky puddings), shouldn't hurt I reckon.

I think my ds is having the weight/height thing done in his Reception class soon, so I'll be interested what they say. His height is around 112/113cm and I think he weighs just over 18 kilos, so similar to your ds.

I have to say that I really don't worry about him that much - he's fairly skinny, but so was his dad at that age, and he eats very well. I do consciously try to up the amount of fat and carbs in his diet, as I know he's on the light side so will keep watching this thread with interest.

My vague attempts so far...

• he still has full fat milk to drink every morning and night, and in his porridge (which I add mashed banana and honey to) and cereal.
• although he likes fruit for his snacks, I add things like buttered toast, croissants and waffles for extra calories
• nuts are good, he'll eat loads of brazil, pastachio and cashews as a snack
• I coat his pasta in olive oil
• I often make chocolate brownies (and that type of thing) so he does regularly have cake and biscuits (though I do worry about the sugar)

my twins are 6 and a 1/4 - one is 114 cm and about 19kg, the other is 112 cm and about 16kg.

They are both skinny but both healthy and are growing steadily keeping track with their percentile lines. Normally I can't get them to eat more - but just recently they are constantly hungry so maybe gearing up for a growth spurt.

Neither look as if they are too thin and I do not worry about them.

25 % centile means 3/4 of kids will be heavier (or taller) and a 1/4 will be lighter/shorter.

If you are worried I would give him a bit more fat - eg butter on potatoes etc. Fat is good for growing kids, as long as not in excess, and phase out as they get to puberty. Don't go for more refined sugars - they are just wasted calories.

Just checked ds's red book - he has always varied between 2nd and 9th centile - so pretty small.

The nurse weighed him at school and referred him for being underweight - we got sent to the Paedatrician who basically said he was fit and healthy - just small - he had ALWAYS been that way so discharged him straight away and said as long as he stays on the same or near enough same centile lines then its ok.

I think his diet sounds fine - maybe yoghurt for pudding? increase the calcium but other than that seems ok

If its any consolation he is now 8 and jumped to the 50th centile line for weight - he doesnt bloody stop eating! I ignored advice from HV when he was 9 months old to feed him cakes and chocolate etc