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You are here : home > Food and Nutrition > Fussy Children > My Child is Underweight!

My Child is Underweight!

My Child is Underweight!

Is your child's fussy eating causing him to be underweight? Here's how you can get him to eat more and eat healthy, without having to force him.


Most children are fussy eaters. Eating comes last on their list of priorities - there are so many other more exciting things to do! Children often eat less simply because eating the same food day after day gets boring. This turns out to be concerning for parents if their child starts to fall behind on how much weight they should be adding on as they grow up. Every mother will naturally want to push her underweight child to eat more. Although you may feel that by using some force and discipline you will get them to put two more bites in their mouth, this is really not the most effective strategy. In addition, if you serve food they do not like, like healthy food items, they will naturally not want to eat it, and you will have to force them all the more.

Instead of forcing your children to eat whatever is cooked, consider asking them what they would like to eat. If they have a say in what is cooked, they will almost certainly be more willing to eat it, and in more quantities.
 
If children fall underweight, it is a major concern for parents. It could mean a lot of things. It could either mean that they are not getting enough nutrition by means of their daily meals, in which case parents will have to adjust their child’s diet and daily intake of food accordingly. It could also mean that the child is exerting a lot more than they are eating, by being very active and not eating enough. This would also lead to parents making a change in their diet by adding more energy-rich food ingredients. Another, more concerning and trickier to handle, the reason could be that a child’s body is not absorbing the nutrients from their food as it should. This could be the reason if your child is eating a good amount of food and nutritious food too, yet seems to fall under the weight they should be having according to their age. In such cases, it is best for parents to consult paediatricians as they would know best exactly how underweight the child is, the reasons why this may be happening and what to do to remedy the situation. Fortunately, most children are resilient and their bodies are still growing, and hence are very good at trying to make them as healthy as possible. So whatever it is, can be easily and quickly fixed.

Health issues aside, if the reason your child is underweight is simply that they are not eating enough, it is good news. Because there are some simple ways in which you can make your child eat more, invigorate their appetite, and put on weight. Being underweight, quite like being overweight can pose quite a few health complications. The human body is at the optimum performance or is at its best when it is at or around a healthy weight. If the child is overweight, there are certain health complications it may be inviting. Children will also tend to be a little lethargic or less active than other children their age if they are overweight. But they are also at the best age to shed off any weight that may be unhealthy for them. Similarly, children who are underweight, may not get enough nutrition, or not have a lot of energy. As a result, they may get tired easily, become a little down in terms of energy even if they want to be more active. They also run the risk of lowered immunity if their body cannot fight illnesses well, and they may end up falling ill too often and being sick for longer as they cannot recover quickly. 

So if you want your child to put on more weight because they are underweight, and you want them to achieve a healthier weight, here are some tips.


1. Make thinner chapattis

Malti was constantly trying to get her daughter Mona to eat chapattis. Mona detested them and would eat one with great difficulty. She was also very underweight. And then one day Malti took Mona to a friend's house for lunch, and was surprised to see her daughter eat as many as seven chapattis! The reason? The chapattis at Malti's house were thick, and these paper-thin chapattis were just what Mona enjoyed. This little change made such a big difference! So if your child detests chapattis, have you ever tried making them thinner?

Let’s explore the possible reason, and how that can also apply to other food items.

Maybe, the reason Mona enjoys thinner chapattis, is because it tastes less dough-like than thicker chapattis and lets her enjoy the curry it is served with better. It could also be that thicker chapattis are heavier, naturally - since they are denser with flour, less likely to be completely cooked through or even fail to fluff up on the Tawa. Not only do thinner chapattis taste better, but they are also easier to digest. The reason we need to understand why exactly your child may dislike a certain food item or fruit and vegetable, is because it helps us understand what we can adjust and fix to make the ingredient more appetizing for our child. 

Children are very young, and they are still trying to understand the world around them. They don’t understand, or rather they don’t have a thorough grasp on what ‘rules’ make up our world. So, understandably, they are guided by their instincts. Their instincts are based on instant gratification, as delayed gratification is not a concept for them. The point is, they may not know what is best for them, and that responsibility falls to their parents. Children are not wrong in wanting to eat things that taste yummy to them and make them happy, rather we as parents should adjust our ways to make what is good for them also appealing to them, at least until they know better. 

So, it will always be a good idea to ask your child to describe, in whichever way they can, what makes them not like a dish or vegetable. Try to change that aspect and see if they like it. For example, if they don’t like a vegetable like a carrot, ask them why. Do they not like the taste? If the natural form is sweet for them and they don’t like it, try to incorporate it into more savoury dishes. If it is too hard for them to chew, try to chop carrots smaller and incorporate them into dishes (Do keep in mind, they still need to chew at other firm vegetables and fruits, otherwise the problem may be sensitive teeth!). If they don’t like the texture, you can incorporate them into smoothies. Following these steps, will make your child enjoy their meal, and as a result, they are more likely to either eat more or more frequently.


2. Mix good and bad

Every parent wants their children to eat healthily, but the healthiest food is not always the tastiest. If you want your child to eat those karelas they so completely detest, consider serving karelas as an accompaniment to a dish they simply love, like perhaps rajma and rice. At least your child's heart will not sink as soon as they sit down at the table and see what's for lunch or dinner!

This also helps them learn the value of food. If you encourage them to not waste food and finish the reasonably sized serving, and make it very clear how wasting food is a negative thing, you will notice that eventually, they eat food in such a way that what they like the most is what they will finish the meal with rather than eating it up in the beginning. This will teach them delayed gratification i.e that sometimes we have to wait for good things, as well as patience. Having something they do like and are excited about will also help soften the repulsion they may feel at having to eat something they don’t like or may not want to eat. One important thing to keep in mind is to NOT keep the dish or something they like away from them until the food that is healthy has been finished. If you do that, they may feel like the healthy food option is a hurdle they have to cross to get to what they want. Doing so may also make them believe healthy food is a punishment while tasty food is the reward, further reinforcing their belief as to what want is the better option even if that may not necessarily be true.

At the end of the day, the aim is to help them establish a good and positive relationship with food, a healthy association with food. Only then will the child actually look forward to food, actively seek out meals. This will work in favour of them gaining weight. 


3. Experiment often

Children enjoy variety. Taking the example of karelas, if you make them stuffed for a change, instead of chopped, your child will almost certainly want to try it, just because it looks new and interesting. And who knows, maybe they will like it! It is especially important to try new ways of cooking vegetables your child doesn't like. Reiterating from the previous point, there could be many reasons your child may not like something particular, and they also may not always be successful in communicating to you what exactly it is that they don’t like about something. If you keep experimenting and switching things up sporadically, you may stumble upon which way your child appreciates certain ingredients being cooked. 

Even if your child is one that eats almost everything, it would still be a good idea to change things up occasionally, so that they do not get bored of eating the same thing again and again. Children are less likely to eat a full serving of food they have had many times before, or are bored of. A new dish, with a new flavour, piques their curiosity. They will want to have more of this new dish. If they like it a lot, they may even ask you to make it more. Thus, they may not only increase the quantity they eat but also the frequency with which they eat, which will help them put on weight.


4. Include vegetables in different cuisines

Try and expose your child to various cuisines. In all likelihood children in India have been mostly exposed to Indian cuisine, and perhaps some Chinese cuisine. If your child enjoys Chinese food, try and make it more regularly. This is a great opportunity to make your child eat plenty of vegetables like beans, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and so on. Cut these vegetables into thin strips and add them to the noodles. You could also serve them a mixed vegetable sauce. Make it a point to include vegetables like carrots, beans and broccoli, which perhaps your child will not enjoy in a regular meal. Skip the Ajino Moto or MSG, and avoid noodles made of refined flour or maida.
Similarly, mixed vegetables in a white sauce made with wheat instead of maida goes great with brown bread. Add a little garlic butter to the toast, and watch your kids gulp down the meal in an instant.

Like the previous point, keep experimenting with different cuisines as well. The great thing about our world being so big is that we have many cultures and even more types of food. See if your child likes Mediterranean food, you can incorporate a lot of veggies and goodness into falafels. Even dishes like Ghanoush and Hummus are filled with wholesomeness and flavour. There are a lot of Pan-Asian cuisines other than Chinese, such as Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. There are also European cuisines, similar to Italian cuisine that they may already be familiar with by the way of pizzas and pasta. Mexican cuisine may also tingle your child’s tastebuds, as they are often sour and spicy.



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Sonali
Sonali.5 years ago
I give healthy diet to my baby to build immune system... lots of fruits vegetables dry fruits... everything helps in building child’s immune system
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Archana Reddy
Archana Reddy.10 years ago
Hi my son Adhish eats everything Except Rice, he loves Junk food a lot. but doctor say not to give bakery items like biscuts, bread.... he is very poor in eating.
 
 
 
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Smita
Smita.14 years ago
you can also cut the chapatis before putting them on the tawa in different shapes by using biscut cutter to make them more attractive to the child.
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Tony S
Tony S.14 years ago
u canmake the food colourful by presenting it with lots of salads and making aeroplanes, diff. shapes of animals and birds. add more variety . your child will automatically start loving food
 
 
 
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Monisha
Monisha.14 years ago
the pediatrician once told me to "stop offering food at every instance". meaning, if the child has been fussy over breakfast, not to offer her juice/ snacks at around 11 am. at the time, it seemed so cruel - like all mothers of fussy eaters, i too was constantly worrying about feeding my 2 year old!
but it worked. she eats a good lunch on days when she decides to skip breakfast. and i manage to even get spinach and carrots into her on those days
 
 
 
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bulsara
bulsara.14 years ago
my child likes to eat cheese so started
giving her to overcome her weight.
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suma
suma.14 years ago
i have a problem:
my son 7yr+ very good in studies
he eats everything but i have to keep on telling eat or set time limit,
thats somehow ok
there isnt anything he likes any thing he says no i tried all sorts but he eats like 3 dosa "enough!" big no to junk food n outside snack or sweet or oil fried like chakklies even puris
he doesnt like anything all types of food same limit;normally kids like even chcolates;but he doesnt like them also
his weight is 25kgs hope everyhting is ok
should give him sweets like payasam,or deep fried whenver v go to some house
or let him be like this he says no i feel odd.my family doesnt allow to use force to eat
what should i do
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seema
seema.14 years ago
you can colour food ta attract by using beet etc
 
 
 
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parul
parul.14 years ago
i couldn't find the age of the child for which the stuff was written . particularly , under the column " my child is underweight."
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