How do I Get Kids to Gain Weight?

Kids can be underweight, or lack weight gain for many different reasons. Genetics, eating habits and the types of food your child consumes, all play a role when it comes to weight gain. Kids need to consume a healthy, nutritious diet to perform at their best every day. If your child can stand to gain a few pounds, it doesn't mean you have to feed him a diet of cookies and fast food; You can make him gain weight by making slight adjustments to a healthy diet.

Find The Source Of The Problem

• Before you can make any changes to your child's diet, determine the reason why your child needs to gain weight. Maybe his diet is not at fault. Consult with your child's doctor because medical issues such as food allergies, digestive disorders, celiac disease and food intolerance can all contribute to your child being underweight; it's not just lack of calories and picky eating. If you know the source of the problem, you can treat it effectively. Any underlying issues that cause your child to have problems gaining weight should be treated before adjusting his diet.

Serve Calorie-Dense Foods

• If your child's diet is to blame for his low weight, you can adjust it by offering him more calorie-dense foods from each food group. Calorie-dense foods have a lot of concentrated calories per serving. They generally don't have a lot of water in them. Starchy fruits and vegetables such as avocados and potatoes are good calorie-dense food choices. Complex carbohydrates such as whole-wheat pasta, beans, whole-grain cereals and brown rice are also good to gain weight. For protein, fatty meats such as salami, beef and pork can be served.

Add Fat To Your Child's Diet

• To increase your child's caloric intake, you can add fat to his foods without him even noticing a difference in taste. You can add butter and sour cream to vegetables. Make him some scrambled eggs and add cheese and butter to it. When serving him pasta, toss it in olive or canola oil which are both unsaturated "heart-healthy" fats and do not effect your child's cholesterol level as saturated fats do. Your child's fat intake can also come from dairy products. Instead of giving him low-fat milk, give him whole milk to drink. Replace low-fat yogurt with regular yogurt.

Increase Your Child's Portion Size

• Increasing the portions you serve your child and getting him to eat more frequently will also add up in calories. Your child may prefer to eat six smaller meals per day or he may like the idea of eating three larger meals with three snacks in between. Providing him with a zip-top bag with snacks such as granola bars, dried fruit and nuts may make it easier for him to adjust to snacking in between meals. Increasing his portion sizes can be as easy as adding an extra slice of bread or an extra potato.