Whey protein for children

[ATG]

Hoofy said:

GPs aren't perfect, though...

Yes but on average they know a stload more about health than the rest of us do. If someone is genuinely concerned about a GP's diagnosis, then the rational course of action is to get a second opinion from another GP.

All else equal, if a parent says one thing and a medic says the opposite, then my money's on the medic.

If a parent has a genuine concern about their child's development, they're being pretty irresponsible if they ignore medical advice.

[mph1977]

otolith said:

Does occur to me that although you can't infer from his build now how he will end up after puberty, if it is the case that he ends up naturally small of build, making a big deal of it now isn't going to help his confidence and happiness later in life.

and being a small child doesn;t mean you will be small adult , both my brother and ai were towards thelower end of thenormal values pre-puberty we are now both just shy of 6 foot and of a healthy size ( i'm a little 'undertall' if any thing)

[Hoofy]

ATG said:

Hoofy said:

GPs aren't perfect, though...

Yes but on average they know a stload more about health than the rest of us do. If someone is genuinely concerned about a GP's diagnosis, then the rational course of action is to get a second opinion from another GP.

All else equal, if a parent says one thing and a medic says the opposite, then my money's on the medic.

If a parent has a genuine concern about their child's development, they're being pretty irresponsible if they ignore medical advice.

True but in this case, while the medic says nothing's wrong, then if you're still concerned it's not gonna cause problems unless the OPer takes smiffy's advice.

[ATG]

True. I prescribe anabolic steroids and a big reefer to deal with the increased aggression.

[Xaero]

Taking this off to a different tangent... what month was your boy born?

At that age, growing happens rapidly so the difference between 11 months is huge. School teams are determined by year. And if your lad was an August born baby (like me), trying to compete with people born the September before is always going to be a struggle as they have had 11 months more physical development over him.

Most English born football/rugby players will probably have their birthdays Sept-Dec as they've always had the physical edge (and thus treatment) over their peers. The same in Canada for those born Jan-Mar (their school year starts in January), most hockey players are born in those months, and Japan it's April-Jun.

I may have been reading freakonomics recently..

[goldblum]

_Deano said:

he is the smallest in the class both in terms of height and width

1. I'm sure you as parents feed him well enough as it is - he doesn't need any more protein.

2. Extra protein won't make his bones grow - calcium and vit c might help.

3. There's research that says kids are ok to do resistance exercise, provided they're supervised. Why don't you take him to the gym with you a couple of times a week and try to kickstart some muscle growth? The weights will also strengthen his bones. He still won't need extra protein though.

[272BHP]

I would not take a child down the gym or get them touching any kinds of weights to be honest. Pull-ups and press ups and the like are ok in moderation but there really is no telling what effect repetitive movements (with weight) will do to rapidly growing bodies - best to err on the side of caution I think.

It's funny how some people advocate Complan but would not touch body building marketed protein supplements, Complin is a protein supplement with cheap ingredients: basically just skimmed milk powder, maltodextrin, and some vitamins thrown in. Some body building powders are much higher quality and much healthier.

Also, the fact is NHS Doctors don't really give a damn if your kid grows up 10 stone wet or a big strapping rugby player, so long as he is free of disease and disability. If you go private then you will probably find one who will agree with all your concerns and prescribe solutions so long as you pay through the nose for it.

But how big is your child in height and weight and how tall are you and your wife? My Son is 7 and has just given up football as he is just too frustrated with it. he is also the smallest in his class and a summer child as well and he just cannot compete in a physical game like football. We take him gymnastics and Karate and he excels at these, physical team sports will have to wait I guess!

[ClaphamGT3]

If you are worried about his diet/development, go and see a nutritionalist/paediatrician; don't ask a bunch of strangers on a motoring format and certainly don't fill him up with supplements of any sort.

[goldblum]

272BHP said:

I would not take a child down the gym or get them touching any kinds of weights to be honest. Pull-ups and press ups and the like are ok in moderation but there really is no telling what effect repetitive movements (with weight) will do to rapidly growing bodies -

Not much because they do it already. Moving they're own bodyweight is a weightbearing exercise which they do hundreds (well, maybe) of times a day. Think about it.

[otolith]

I guess it would be an organisational nightmare, but given the range of sizes within a school year it would make more sense to organise team sports by size than by year. I used to enjoy rugby despite being small (played hooker) but I went right off it after some clumsy ape on my own team managed to stamp on my hand

I suppose it would still have hurt if it hadn't been Lurch, but at least I could have thumped him for it!

[272BHP]

goldblum said:

272BHP said:

I would not take a child down the gym or get them touching any kinds of weights to be honest. Pull-ups and press ups and the like are ok in moderation but there really is no telling what effect repetitive movements (with weight) will do to rapidly growing bodies -

Not much because they do it already. Moving they're own bodyweight is a weightbearing exercise which they do hundreds (well, maybe) of times a day. Think about it.

You were advocating weight training not walking I believe.

[YankeePorker]

If he's eating as good a diet as you say, then he's at the size dictated by his genes. Plenty of time for him to grow, and trying to beef him up "artificially" for sporting reasons wouldn't be doing him a favour in my opinion. Just make sure that there's plenty of food for him to eat when he gets back from school - I used to come home ravenous and eat loads of toast and jam, and then go on to eat a full evening meal.

As someone else commented above, if he's smaller and lithe then he should be in the 3/4s in rugby, scalping the opposing defence with speed and manoeuvrability!

[mph1977]

ClaphamGT3 said:

If you are worried about his diet/development, go and see a nutritionalist/paediatrician; don't ask a bunch of strangers on a motoring format and certainly don't fill him up with supplements of any sort.

you are more likely to get good advice from Ph than from a 'Nutritionist' - remember that the awful poo woman not-a-Doctor Gillian McKeith is a 'nutritionist' it is title with no meaning or control.

this is not the US a paediatrician will not see you without a referral from the GP and i do wonder if the OP is opening himself to a world of 'interesting times' pushing this angle too far - although obviously that would depend on where the young chap in question sits on the height and weight for age graph

i.e. http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/system/files/protected/page...

http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/system/files/protected/page...

[Mastodon2]

_Deano said:

I guess one of the other concerns is that when he moves on to the larger school next year (from 7 years to 12), he could be a target for bully's. So going up a size would help.

It doesn't matter how big or small he is, if he is a hard they'll leave him alone, if he is a soft ste they'll be on him like wolves.

Actually read the things you are typing. Do they sound as ridiculous to you as they do to us? You're trying to find protein shakes for a 7 year old hoping to bulk him up to make him better at rugby and defend himself against bullies.

You can ram as much food down his neck as you want - you said said you'd been to the butchers so load him up on fatty red meats if you want, you won't beat the hormones of a 7 year old. His liver will be excreting a huge percentage of everything he doesn't need and the hormonal makeup of a 7 year old is not geared to building mass - he won't have the testosterone to add muscle mass. At best, you may increase his body fat percentage in a minimal way, at worst he will notice his dad fretting over him and develop a complex.

If you're really worried about him getting picked on for being small, give him some honest lessons on what tough kids do to softies. If he's a rough lad, some bullies might try it on and he can stick one on them and they'll not bother again, if he is a mouse then he should probably just try and stay out of their way. Perhaps you could ask the teachers if he could stay inside at break times?

Alternatively there are a number of supplements you could give him to bulk up, but he'll need to put the time in at the gym. He'll probably be the first lad shaving in his class too.

[goldblum]

272BHP said:

goldblum said:

272BHP said:

I would not take a child down the gym or get them touching any kinds of weights to be honest. Pull-ups and press ups and the like are ok in moderation but there really is no telling what effect repetitive movements (with weight) will do to rapidly growing bodies -

Not much because they do it already. Moving they're own bodyweight is a weightbearing exercise which they do hundreds (well, maybe) of times a day. Think about it.

You were advocating weight training not walking I believe.

You missed the "Think about it" bit.

[Xaero]

Another later thought on this topic - rather than a gym (which are boring enough for adults let alone children) if you're concerned with future bullying, then put him in a martial arts class. It will do more than physical building, but mental and skills too. 'I need to drink protein shakes and go to the gym to keep up with other kids' doesn't seem to be a good place to start in this situation.

[Tiggsy]

Only read the back end of this thread....

Regarding size and bullys - there's no answer. I was huge at school, so just got into fights with kids 3 years above me who thought I was fair game . Sure, at 18 when your 6ft6 and 17 stone its fine......but a big 13 yr old just gets mashed up by 16 year olds......and even a 6ft6 18 year old can get jumped by 5 normal size folk!



And as for protein shakes for kids...WTF????

All my boys play sport on national level pathways.....while its tempting to give them some BCAA with their cereal.....get a grip! My eldest is almost 15 and its only now that his body is starting to look like any form of training/diet geared to altering his shape will have much impact. Up till now its just been training for his sport and eating to stay healthy.

His younger brother is 11 but the size of most 13/14 year olds......at 19 I'd like him 6ft7 and 250lbs with sprinter speed......but for now, he gets nothing more than a nibble of my protein flapjacks if I'm feeling generous!

[smiffy180]

OP, what about this?
http://www.fussyeaters.co.uk/paediasure-shake.aspx


Get a free sample here: https://www.fussyeaters.co.uk/paediasure-shake/req...
I actually got some just because it's a free sample

[16plates]

Just get the protein from whole foods instead.

More chicken, fish, beef, eggs on the regular and he'll have an ample protein intake for his size which will help with his recovery and growth.

[Tiggsy]

goldblum said:

272BHP said:

goldblum said:

272BHP said:

I would not take a child down the gym or get them touching any kinds of weights to be honest. Pull-ups and press ups and the like are ok in moderation but there really is no telling what effect repetitive movements (with weight) will do to rapidly growing bodies -

Not much because they do it already. Moving they're own bodyweight is a weightbearing exercise which they do hundreds (well, maybe) of times a day. Think about it.

You were advocating weight training not walking I believe.

You missed the "Think about it" bit.

I think there is a big difference between moving your own body around (which it has evolved to do over hundreds of thousands of years) and which it is very good at doing efficiently and performing traditional weighttraining exercises designed specifically to stress the body in a way it is not used to or designed for (designed for in the sense that we are all able to push ourselves off the floor - a press up- but our body is not particularly efficient at doing it repeatedly or with increased weight added....ala bench press)