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 don't get all the worry over his weight Milamae- he's on the 25th centile not dropping off the chart. He eats healthy and a decent amount too so I really wouldn't try and change his diet too much, if at all. I especially would not fill him full of sugary crap- this would just give him an energy peak and then he would feel even more tired.

The logical thing to do here would be to have his blood tested for things like anaemia just to make sure he is OK. Have you had this done?

Sugar doesn't give sustained energy. For energy we need complex carbs and iron so stick with the full fat milky porridge and maybe add a few raisins to it for iron. Does he eat dark leafy veg, eg. spinach? Sweet potatoes provide better slower release energy than normal potatoes.

He probably is just naturally skinny though like you say and I would say this is massively preferable to being overweight and spending a lifetime on diets like alot of people do nowadays.

DS is about 109cm and weighs just on 18kgs and nobody has said a word to me about him being underweight or anything. He is the peak of health to look at him.

Average food:

Brekkie: 2 slices wholegrain vegemite toast with stacks of butter + glass of apple juice/milk

Fruit time, sliced apple (with lemon for some bizarre reason loves it).

Lunch: Carb varies between pasta (w/g), sandwich etc usually with roast beef /cheese/ham something fatty, yoghurt, smoothie (those packed ones), raisins, babybel.

Dinner: Whatever we are having, curry/roast/steak etc etc, no starches though as DH & I don't eat them so we have extra veg instead. Often has pudding if has eaten reasonable amount of dinner. Homemade custard with bananas etc.

I use lots and lots of cream and butter and cheese and BACON and all the things that make food worth eating!

Am not a doctor, but he doesn't sound that low too me - the tired thing is a concern though. DS is mentally tired at the end of the day but needs a good run/park time before he can settle down of an evening.

often the problem is a small appetite, so go for foods that give a lot per spoonful.
Peanut butter is fantastic for feeding up skinny kids. eggs for breakfast and peanut butter sandwiches as after school snacks will build them up fast without all the empty sugar in doughnuts etc.
pasta/potatoes fill them up fast but stops the appetite.

My DS is also really skinny - right on the bottom of the 25th centile line. When he goes swimming I look at him compared to the other kids and think he really looks like he needs a good meal.

I bought him some school trousers once that didnt have the pull up elastic waist band, and they fell down as he was walking up the road!

He eats a really varied diet - I make sure he eats his 5 portions of fruit/veg, but then he eats different things each day - sometimes chips, sometimes pasta, sometimes home cooked, sometimes nuggets, sometimes white bread/sometimes whole meal etc etc and I let him have a couple of servings a day of sweet foods, e.g. cake, biscuits, chocolate, normally as desert.

Sometimes I worry - should I be trying to feed him up with more fattening foods, but then I worry is the sugar bad for his teeth, the sat fat bad for his heart etc etc

But he is the most healthy child I know - he never tires, is always running around outside and playing games. DH and I were both skinny when we were children so that is probably the way he is meant to be - and MilaMae - that is probably the same for your child. Sometimes I think we fret too much about trying to be the perfect parent!