For parents with underweight children, getting them to eat and promote weight gain can be very frustrating and stressful. A child’s lack of weight gain can be caused by many different reasons. A chronic or acute illness can trigger a poor appetite and feeding problems. Medications can also decrease appetite and cause nausea. For some children lack of weight gain may be due to picky eating or food jags (eating the same food over and over).
Adequate growth is an important part of a child’s development. A child who goes a long period of time with decreased calorie intake is at risk for malnutrition. This can affect developing bones, teeth, and muscles. By providing a child, who has poor appetite, with calorie and protein dense foods a parent can help promote healthy growth.
Increasing Intake in Underweight children
- Limit fluid intake right before and at meals. Fluids can fill up the stomach and make the child feel full quickly.
- Eat small frequent meals (6-8 times per day).
- Make mealtimes a positive experience. Mealtimes should be relaxed and happy.
- Make meals fun, be creative. For example, cut sandwiches, pancakes, waffles and pizza into various shapes using cookie cutters.
- Light exercise or play time right before a meal may help increase a child’s appetite.
Power Packing
Power packing is one method that can help a parent increase the amount of calories and protein in food with out increasing the volume of the food the child eats. The easiest way to power pack is to add additional calories and protein to foods your child is already eating.
- Fortify milk: to one quart of whole milk add 1 cup of instant non-fat dry milk. Mix until power dissolves and refrigerate. This milk can be used to increase the calories and protein in foods like macaroni and cheese, soups, mashed potatoes, hot chocolate and any recipe that calls for milk.
- Add cheese to cream sauces, vegetables, soups or casseroles
- Use canned fruit that are packed in heavy syrups
- Dried fruits are good concentrated sources of calories
- When eating bread products such as toast, muffins and biscuits use both butter and jam, honey or cream cheese.
Calorie Dense Combinations
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- Macaroni and cheese
- Crackers and hummus
- Fruit shakes made with ice cream
- Baked potato with butter, cheese and sour cream
- Soup and cornbread
- French toast or pancakes with fruit in heavy syrup
While the goal is to provide a well balanced diet it is important to remember that when a child has a poor appetite and eating only small amounts of food, any source of calorie and protein is better than not eating.
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