Underweight child

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Discussion

davgar

Original Poster:

347 posts

96 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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My 7 year old son is underweight. Anyone tried anything like Protein Bars / Ensure or
https://www.abbottnutrition.co.uk/products-and-ser...

cheers

Riley Blue

20,915 posts

225 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Suugest you contact you GP for an appointment with their dietician however, there may be an underlying medical reason that needs to be investigated.

jimmyjimjim

7,329 posts

237 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Definitely worth checking with a nutrition specialist.

I came on to say 'how about the pediasure drinks?'...then saw that's what your link was for.

Advertised heavily here in the US, no idea of how good they are.

Advert says 'our pediatrician recommended 2 pediasure a day for 8 weeks'. I got as far as working out that was about $180 worth.

Edited by jimmyjimjim on Tuesday 20th September 15:05

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Riley Blue said:
Suugest you contact you GP for an appointment with their dietician however, there may be an underlying medical reason that needs to be investigated.
This would be my thoughts, seek professional help rather than just shoving your son full of protein bars!

How underweight is he? Does he eat well and healthily? Does he do a lot of exercise / sport?

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
quotequote all
davgar said:
My 7 year old son is underweight. Anyone tried anything like Protein Bars / Ensure or
https://www.abbottnutrition.co.uk/products-and-ser...

cheers
My elder daughter wouldn't eat enough, or so we thought, from birth. She was always the skinniest in her class, not helped by the fact she was the tallest. She was light for her age group norm, so excessively so for her height.

We lived near a midwife, whom we were friends with, and she was vary laid back about it. She said as long as my daughter was happy and active, had a varied diet and we had food available when she was hungry, we should ignore our norms.

When she got to 12 or so she started to eat a lot, more than her 6' two year older brother. We expected her to put on weight, but she refused to.

She's now 41, 5'13", slim yet eats more than any of her friends. (Remarkable she has any given their struggle with their weight.) She eats a varied diet but thinks nothing of having a couple of cream cakes a week.

I spoke to my parents about my concerns and they told me that it was karma for the worries that I had inflicted on them by not putting on weight when I was a kid. At the age of 13 I was 6'2" and weighed nearly 11 stone.

All that worry for nothing.

I'd suggest not comparing your child with others but assessing if there are any symptoms of undernourishment. Easy to say, I know, especially as I never cracked it with my daughter.


deckster

9,630 posts

254 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Presuming this isn't just some thinly-veiled advert for the afore-mentioned supplements, what makes you think he is underweight? What does he weigh and how tall is he? How does he eat? Is he physically active? What does your doctor say?

Just throwing supplements into him is a bad idea; there is no need for anything like that unless under medical advice for a particular condition.

Dogwatch

6,222 posts

221 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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If she's happy and healthy and eating all she wants then don't worry too much. If you trail her round a load of medics and make an issue of her eating (or not) then you probably will have a problem.

All parents have grey hair eventually - we get it from our children!

Riley Blue

20,915 posts

225 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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It's his seven year old son the OP is asking about.

omniflow

2,545 posts

150 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Pediasure is what Great Ormond St Hospital give to eating disorder patients who won't eat - so I assume it's reputable. However feeding it to your son without some kind of medical diagnosis is total lunacy.

Bill

52,472 posts

254 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Just feed him more actual food, surely. No need for expensive supplements. (My now 8-y-o was very skinny but tall so we built up his portions and gave him extra before bed. He seems to go up more than out but is no longer too skinny.)

dudleybloke

19,717 posts

185 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Pies.

brman

1,233 posts

108 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Derek Smith said:
My elder daughter wouldn't eat enough, or so we thought, from birth. She was always the skinniest in her class, not helped by the fact she was the tallest. She was light for her age group norm, so excessively so for her height.

We lived near a midwife, whom we were friends with, and she was vary laid back about it. She said as long as my daughter was happy and active, had a varied diet and we had food available when she was hungry, we should ignore our norms.

When she got to 12 or so she started to eat a lot, more than her 6' two year older brother. We expected her to put on weight, but she refused to.

She's now 41, 5'13", slim yet eats more than any of her friends. (Remarkable she has any given their struggle with their weight.) She eats a varied diet but thinks nothing of having a couple of cream cakes a week.

I spoke to my parents about my concerns and they told me that it was karma for the worries that I had inflicted on them by not putting on weight when I was a kid. At the age of 13 I was 6'2" and weighed nearly 11 stone.

All that worry for nothing.

I'd suggest not comparing your child with others but assessing if there are any symptoms of undernourishment. Easy to say, I know, especially as I never cracked it with my daughter.
I'd echo that. My eldest daughter would eat next to nothing at times and was all skin an bones. I eventually realised the only affect it was having on her was our continual nagging was upsetting her. She was still as active and fit as her friends.
I did have a serious chat with her about it and she insisted that she would like to be fatter (as she didn't like being different from her friends) but if she forced herself to eat when she wasn't hungry she just felt really sick (but never was).
We eventually gave up worrying on the basis that she was healthy otherwise so it was just the way she is. At 20 she is still the same and I suspect (if she is lucky!) she will still be the same at 40.....

FlyingMeeces

9,932 posts

210 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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Paediasure, ensure are medical alternatives to food (and actually not terribly good ones, tube fed children who are given the stuff life-long almost universally have chronic reflux, runny guts etc - imagine a diet of McDonald's milkshake with a scoop of whey powder and a multivitamin and you'd not be far off) - in the absence of actual real malnutrition I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. Have a chat with a GP, paeds dietician or similar, see what they say, I'll be astonished if their advice isn't something along the lines of 'plenty of good grub available and don't sweat it' - if there's an actual problem afoot then that's a different matter and MIGHT have supplemental formula feeds as a solution, but not before diagnosis and not without the supervision of a medic… have you a theory yourself OP, is he actually problematically skinny, lacking in energy etc?

oldcynic

2,166 posts

160 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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I'd echo the advice to consult your GP if you're concerned - both our youngest are dairy intolerant and one was wheat intolerant when she first started with solids - although the big clue for that was sloshing around in the nappies. The youngest is now back on wheat 5 years later and getting on fine, so we're progressively re-introducing dairy products for both girls (on the advice of the consultant).

If your son has an intolerance or allergy then that could explain difficulty putting on weight, but you'd generally see other symptoms as well - rash, loose stools, feeling sick.

Seek medical advice. Ignore the adverts and the size of everyone else's children.

davgar

Original Poster:

347 posts

96 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
thanks for all your help and suggestions.
We have spoken to medical professionals but I am not convinced by the wait and see attitude.
I would like to do something positive to help.
I agree that proper food is better than some "milkshake" but looking for something extra.
cheers

brman

1,233 posts

108 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
davgar said:
thanks for all your help and suggestions.
We have spoken to medical professionals but I am not convinced by the wait and see attitude.
I would like to do something positive to help.
I agree that proper food is better than some "milkshake" but looking for something extra.
cheers
So the professionals have said wait and see? Those with experience here have said the same?

? wink

dudleybloke

19,717 posts

185 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all

FlyingMeeces

9,932 posts

210 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
davgar said:
thanks for all your help and suggestions.
We have spoken to medical professionals but I am not convinced by the wait and see attitude.
I would like to do something positive to help.
I agree that proper food is better than some "milkshake" but looking for something extra.
cheers
There really and truly may not be anything extra to have - not that is worth having.

Is he active? Lively? Learning well, playing, developing?

Is he getting taller (in that fits and starts way that small children do - my daughter went from a round and squidgy 8kg and 72 cm to a decidedly skinny 8 kg and 85 cm 6 months later - she outgrew all of her trousers and none of the tops!)?

The pies pic above made me laugh but actually, fresh home baked whatever is the single most likely way I can think of to induce anybody at all to eat more - cheese scones hot out the oven with the butter melting on them… lick

davgar

Original Poster:

347 posts

96 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
Thanks - he is a happy and active child and I am sure nature will take its course & everything will end up ok.
The difficult bit maybe feeding more to him without fattening the rest of us up.

ikarl

3,730 posts

198 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
I was just under 11 stone when I was 15... the thing was, I was 6'5" so I looked incredibly underweight.

I did however eat really well and had decent muscle definition. I was always on the go though so that probably accounts for my weight.

In some cases, speak to a doctor. In most cases, it's probably nothing to worry about. (hopefully it's the latter)