Whey protein for children

[_Deano]

I'm looking at the market for a child friendly version of whey protein.
I've not been able to find one yet and i was wondering if anyone else has been successful with finding a brand?

The reason why i ask, is that my boy is very active with sports and although he eats well, he cannot put on any weight and it is starting to look very worrying.
We try and feed him pasta dishes/rice/potatoes meals (all very carb heavy) as much as possible, in addition to the meats. And although he favours pizza's, fish fingers and the like, he can't seem to pick up weight.
For his age (7), he is the smallest in the class both in terms of height and width and now he has started to play rugby, his size really shows against the other under 8's.

I'm a big fan of protein shakes, and since using them myself (PHD brand), I've seen growth. So given his active lifestyle, i think it would be beneficial to him too.

Thanks

[Mr Gearchange]

He's 7 for gods sake.
Just give him a normal diet

[otolith]

If you have a concern, see your GP. He will probably tell you the boy is just naturally small for his age and to stop worrying.

[_Deano]

Mr Gearchange said:

He's 7 for gods sake.
Just give him a normal diet

What would you class as a normal diet?
At the moment i'm cooking the food for him and he eats it all, it's an ample amount of fresh food with a good level of carbs.
We tend to steer away from the ready cooked m/wave dishes, as i like my food fresh and tasty, and that i like to know what goes into it; so the same goes for the family.

We have seen a GP and they were next to useless and pretty much said that he should be ok and (i quote) "probably not as big as the other children, as he doesn't eat as much junk food".

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.

[Mr Gearchange]

You are asking about giving protein supplements to a 7 YO to bulk him up so he can compete against 8 YO in a game of Rugby.

Do you not realise how ridiculous that sounds?

Unless he is dangerously underweight or malnourished - and he clearly isn't, then you have nothing to worry about.

Your child's weight, build and metabolism will change beyond all recognition over the next few years.

Just give him a balanced diet (as it sounds like you are) and everything will be fine

[jonah35]

Protein shakes contain so much chemical junk. Aspartame being one plus loads of other stuff.

My friend stole his dads protein drinks at high school and he went to being massive but that could have been his age lol.

I don't realy think it wise to feed a child protein shakes without a doctors opinion, what next? Steroids?!

[_Deano]

Mr Gearchange said:

You are asking about giving protein supplements to a 7 YO to bulk him up so he can compete against 8 YO in a game of Rugby.

Do you not realise how ridiculous that sounds?

Unless he is dangerously underweight or malnourished - and he clearly isn't, then you have nothing to worry about.

Your child's weight, build and metabolism will change beyond all recognition over the next few years.

Just give him a balanced diet (as it sounds like you are) and everything will be fine

Yes that would sound ridiculous, but no i'm not asking that at all
I was asking if there is a child friendly version of whey protein. The example i gave about rugby, was the immediate noticeable difference in size between my boy and the other boys of the same age (all around 7YO, in the Under8s team). This is also noticeable in class.

If there is not one on the market, then so be it, i will need to try and increase his portion sizes and try to feed him more often. But if there is something that will help a child pad out a bit and gain some weight (and that it stays on), then i would like to take a look.
He is not dangerously underweight, he is very close to be being underweight though. And i think that he is just burning more calories in a day than he can consume, through the meals that he eats.

[_Deano]

jonah35 said:

Protein shakes contain so much chemical junk. Aspartame being one plus loads of other stuff.

My friend stole his dads protein drinks at high school and he went to being massive but that could have been his age lol.

I don't realy think it wise to feed a child protein shakes without a doctors opinion, what next? Steroids?!

I wouldn't let my son try the protein drink that i use. It's designed for adults that are more tolerable to the ingredients and would not do him any good.

[z4RRSchris99]

brilliant thread. feeding your kid shakes!!,

he shouldnt be in the gym let alone munching on suppliments.

[_Deano]

Purity14 said:

If you want to fatten your kid then try this.
http://www.complan.com
Do your research, but I was fed this as a kid twice a week in addition to my regular healthy food.
Nutritional information: http://www.complan.com/uploadedfiles/complan/conte...

Edited by Purity14 on Wednesday 29th October 10:46

Thank you, i will take a look at this.

[Mr Gearchange]

Unless your child is underweight through malnourishment (and he clearly isn't) nobody with any sense would recommend you trying to get him to gain weight.

It won't work anyway - weight gain supplements are not designed for kids metabolisms

Keep doing what you are doing - it sounds like you are giving him exactly the right diet and start in life - he is as big as he is supposed to be at 7 years old - he has an awful lot of growing to do yet

[_Deano]

z4RRSchris99 said:

brilliant thread. feeding your kid shakes!!,

he shouldnt be in the gym let alone munching on suppliments.

Not sure if there should be a smiley face with this comment or not.

But he is not going to the gym, i do that. He is very active with all the sports in school and what he also does out of school on the weekends; his choice.
And I'm not looking at replacing meals, he is still going to have that. I'm looking at something that will help him increase in weight and keep it on.

[Mr Gearchange]

Is he always complaining that he is hungry?

If so just feed him more 'good' food (not the I'm hungry for crisps/chocolate that all kids always are)

If he's not always hungry then everything is fine. My kids eat a massive amount of food (6&8) and both are like streaks of pump water.

[roboxm3]

It's been a while since I was a 7yo boy and I have no experience of raising one but I'd say that supplementing his diet with protein shakes or even trying to increase his calorie intake is wrong.

If he's hungry, he'll eat and if he's no, he wont.
He's probably just small for his age which may or may not change over the next 10yrs but his relative size Vs. other kids his age is no reason to worry.

[BoRED S2upid]

You do know that not all rugby players are beasts don't you? If he's fast then the fat kids won't be able to touch him.

[_Deano]

_Deano said:

Purity14 said:

If you want to fatten your kid then try this.
http://www.complan.com
Do your research, but I was fed this as a kid twice a week in addition to my regular healthy food.
Nutritional information: http://www.complan.com/uploadedfiles/complan/conte...

Edited by Purity14 on Wednesday 29th October 10:46

Thank you, i will take a look at this.

Christ, i have no idea what half of that stuff is, which is mixed in.
I think that i will steer clear of this, but thank you for letting me know about it.

[_Deano]

Mr Gearchange said:

Is he always complaining that he is hungry?

If so just feed him more 'good' food (not the I'm hungry for crisps/chocolate that all kids always are)

If he's not always hungry then everything is fine. My kids eat a massive amount of food (6&8) and both are like streaks of pump water.

Every now and again he will say that he is still hungry after an evening meal, not often though. But by the time he has finished there is no cooked meal left over, so i push some of my food on to his plate. The next day i will increase his food portion size by a slight amount, which is happily consumed.
Although he does like to snack sometimes on crap junk food, he would rather grab an apple than grab a bag of crisps. Guess i should count myself lucky then.

[didelydoo]

Give him more milk, and dianabol, to help him grow.

[HonestIago]

I knew several very skinny boys around my age growing up, none of them are underweight now. In 10 years he will look completely different! Also remember, children grow at different stages so he may suprise you with a big growth spurt in the next year or so.

I'd argue protein shakes will do NO harm whatsoever, but are entirely pointless. Just make sure he eats 3 solid meals a day with a good protein source in each one. Unless children are grossly overwight/underweight it is best not to try and alter their dietary habits in any confrontational or direct manner, don't point out that you think he's small - that's how people develop complexes!

[Mr Trophy]

OP,

If your child is eating (you can see he's eating) then I wouldn't worry at all. If on the other hand he was not eating and getting thin, there would be an issue. You need to remember he's young so highly active.