“Your child looks too puny. Don’t you feed him anything?”
“He is 3? I honestly thought he must be 2!”
“She looks so thin! Are you trying to make her size 0?”
Familiar? For many of us, any discussion on our little one’s weight is a sensitive one. Since height and weight are the most visible evidences of growth, we are bombarded with comments, feed backs and often unwelcome but sometimes helpful advises on these two parameters from all and sundry. This is especially difficult for the mothers because many at times the implicit message is that the mother is not taking care of the child’s diet well. Even if it is not hinted, many of us end up feeling quite defensive about it. Or worse, we start feeling guilty that we are not doing enough.
Ok, first of all, it doesn’t matter what others think and say. That said, you also need to ensure your child has a healthy weight, to ensure that your child is developing all his organs in a healthy normal way. The good news is that by educating yourself and carefully planning your child’s diet, you can help him gain enough weight to be not classified under “underweight”!
If your child is underweight or not is determined by many factors and not the weight alone. So if your child weighs less that the same aged child in the next house, do not panic yet. The best way to tell if your child is underweight is by asking his doctor. Your child’s hospital records would show his height and weight measurements taken during various visits to the hospital for vaccination shots. With these numbers, your child’s doctor can plot a growth chart for your child (many hospitals would give you these charts as well). Your doctor will see if your child has stop growing at the pace he used to grow before. He will also consider other factors such as hereditary, eating habits, calorie intake, BMI, gender and age.
You can do all the above at home as well. There are many “growth calculators” available online. However, be aware that many of these calculators use Caucasian babies as the base range – and we Indians are genetically smaller than Caucasians. So while these online tools give you an indication on where your child stands, it is not the gospel truth.
As parents, the first step for you is to focus less on the weighing scale and more on the nutrients that your child is having. A diet of French fries, Oreo shake and burger might increase your child’s weight. But it will not give him essential macro- and micro-nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and fats. These nutrients are required to build a healthy body with strong bones and robust organs. So do not become obsessed with the weight, rather focus on ensuring the calories that your child intakes come from healthy foods.
As for kids, they generally develop the same attitude to food as the adults around them. If the family members have a healthy attitude towards food, eat meals on proper time, eat together and eat healthy, chances are that the child would imbibe the same qualities. Some tips for ensuring your child has good food habits:
You would most certainly be monitoring your child’s weight grain closely. If your child has reached a healthy weight, then you might want to talk his doctor about readjusting the diet. However, if the child is not gaining weight, despite you doing all the tricks in the books, explore the following options:
(While the above two examples are not harmful and the child, once treated for these, will start gaining weight normally again, there are more serious chronic conditions that can lead to underweight as well. Discuss with your child’s doctor)
Hold on mommies and daddies! With some smart meal and snack planning and lot of coaxing, your little one will be in the healthy weight range soon. Be patient!
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