Should I take my DS (14) to doctor- underweight with BMI of 13

[Swarskid2184]

I am concerned about my DS (14). He has grown a lot (upwards) recently....about 8cm since Christmas. But is still only 40kg. He is literally stick thin....you can see all his ribs and he has no muscle at all. His voice has broken and he has developing body hair.

Recently he has no energy and is very lethargic a lot of the time.

He eats a good breakfast - generally 2 eggs, orange juice and some fruit. Is a bit patchy on lunch at school. Has a good supper - eg chicken breast, rice and broccoli. And then basically eats snacks all evening....until he goes to bed at about 9.30.

My DH thinks that we should take DS to the doctor....I am unsure.

No harm in getting him checked out at the doctors for the lack of energy. My ds is very skinny too but I am not worried as he eats plenty, is pretty healthy and has sufficient energy levels - he's just growing very fast and when he stopped growing up he'll fill out.

Hmm it could be an underlying condition using all of his energy up. However the fact he was reached puberty naturally is a good sign. It possibly wouldn't hurt to visit a GP and get their opinion.

Yes I would. I’d want to know if his iron levels are ok and that is a fair bit under on BMI. Friends DS was low in iron after growth spurt and I think DS (same age as your DS, on thin side) dips so he gets a course every so often . A growth spurt does take a lot out of them and DS eats a lot more when going through one.

I’m guessing he’s year 9 ? They’re under a lot of pressure now and it will get worse next year. I’d be concerned that at that weight he’ll be much more susceptible to winter bugs and flu and I think it would be easier to address it with the summer holidays coming up.

Yes he is yr9. Ok- think that I will make a dr appointment- main reason for not is that I worry that it will worry DS. DH was a v skinny teenager and so was I. So the weight is less of an issue than the lack of energy.

He’s probably totally fine . I’d come across fairly blasé with him and bill it as an MOT as he’s grown so much and just want to check everything is OK and no vitamin deficiencies causing him to be tired, caused by quick rate of growth.

They are absolutely knackered at the moment, 2 year 9 boys in my car mornings and some days they do barely a grunt between them.

If his BMI is only 13 of course you should take him to the doctor. Is he drinking and weeing a lot?

I have a yr9 DS. He's not knackered or 2 stone underweight.

6 stone/40 kg at 5'7" tall is severely underweight. Annies would be jealous.

He drinks a lot of water, and assume that he wees normally- not something he shares with me!

He sort of looks like he has been stretched recently (think Mike TV in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) . He is doing well at school and does stuff outside of school regularly......but just seems so tired all the time!

My friend's anorexic daughter was admitted to hospital with a BMI like that so I think it is worth a check even if you have no other concerns

BMI is measured in centiles not numbers for under 18's so measuring BMI 13 on adult charts is meaningless.
If you are concerned get a gp appointment but try a children's BMI calculator and see what that says

It's 0 centile on the kids chart, Stoneage.

I did use a kids BMi calculator- so put in his age, height and weight to get a BMI of 13

Please get him to a GP. If he is tired all the time, drinking a lot of water and is severley underweight you need to rule out diabetes.

He does obviously need to be seen and soon. I’d watch him this weekend and monitor his fluid intake and how frequently he is going to the toilet as can be related to diabetes. If that seems abnormal then it’s emergency appointment this weekend, otherwise ring Monday and I’d push for urgent appointment if there’s likely to be a wait.

Although they are generally knackered one of the boys cracked out a personal best at 5k run in heat, other very animated talking to his Dad about something. As said, you can do this in a way so as not to overly worry DS but do get him seen as he is very underweight and that level of tiredness sounds extreme.

My DS went slim after a growth spurt. I thought he was eating well but after reading the Eating well - 12 to 18 guide from the Caroline Walker Trust I realised that not only was I not offering enough at mealtimes but I’d also got the balance wrong. We now have plenty of things in for him to snack on like bagels, cheese, ham, cream cheese, fruit bread and we all serve ourselves at mealtimes.

You need to feed him more.

2 eggs, some juice
Chicken rice and broccoli

• "some snacks" +possibly lunch

That sounds like a strict weight loss plan. Almost certainly under 1000cals even if snacks are crisps and chocolate bar.

Most teenage boys are eating 4 times that. He needs some carbs at breakfast and some fat in his diet.

Mine (age 14) is very skinny too and the GP does monitor his weight as when we went about 18 months ago she got concerned about his bmi. He’s sprouted a lot since but has kept the same ratio if you know what I mean. He’s approx 7.5stones and 5ft9! In fact he went on a school trip recently and lost weight - a lot of walking and not enough food. I could see as soon as he got back he’d dropped down again but is eating normally again now. Drs aren’t that concerned but just say give him a lot of protein, full-fat stuff, he can eat what he likes (he loved that). He’s energetic and well in himself so I’m not concerned. If he was lethargic and pale I would be. He’s had a barrage of tests but he’s fit and healthy.

A 14 yr old boy needs well over 2000 cals per day btw.

I would take him to the doc (not making a big deal of it as pp said, but saying it's for a general MOT) and I would immediately instigate another meal before bed such as egg and chips, cheese on toast with glass of milk, toasted ham sandwiches, pancakes and fruit or some such.

Another one saying take him to the doctor's for a general MOT. You could phrase it that you are worried about his lack of energy, whilst also mentioning your concerns about his weight.
Bear in mind that you are unlikely to get very far unless your DS is receptive to the appointment, and that although the GP will listen to what you have to say, s/he will probably want to speak to DS on his own.
I would also try to encourage DS to eat more (eg toast with breakfast, carb based snack when he gets in from school before dinner, glass of milk before bed etc) as he doesn't sound like he eats enough for a growing boy.

Thanks for all the replies. I have appointment for Thursday.

Under active thyroid my cousin was exactly the same , blood tests will flag it up!
Sure it is under? Or if not it over

As others have said your DS is eating a very small amount for a 14 year old boy. Is it that he doesn't want to eat more? Is he into fitness regime or anything? I.e the eggs without carbs. My DS was very slim as a child / young teen and I used to sneak more calorie dense foods into his diet - especially at age 14/15 when he got into an extreme health kick.

Most of the teenagers I know eat WAy more. My 12yo dd is pretty much underweight and I've been giving her extra money to make sure she can get a snack at morning break plus a good lunch. I also try and give her something at home time snack and a meal. I think if they aren't big eaters each meal time and in a stage of rapid growth its helpful to aim for five or six small meals of 400-500ish calories