other reasons for weight gain

My daugther suffered a stroke in-utero.  She has hydrocephalus, epilepsy, low vision, low muscle tone, poor fine and gross motor skills, and precocious puberty.  She is obese.  She was a thin child until she took a seizure med and gained a rapid amount of weight in a short time and has been gaining since.

My question is:  she does not overeat.  If anything, she undereats and does not drink a lot of liquids.  Could that be contributing to her weight problems?  She rarely eats breakfast or morning snack.  She eats school lunch, and then no snack in the afternoon.  At dinner, we usually eat a serving of meat, vegetable, and carb.  She drinks diet soda or water with sugar-free flavoring added.  She does physical activiy structured physical activity 2 times a week.

[Renee Radenberg]

From the measurements you wrote, her weight is just below the 90th percentile and her height is just below the 50th percentile for her age. She is normal for her age. She needs to eat 3 meals a day with snacks between meals plus not skip meals. It is recommend increasing children's physical activities (play, dance, sports) to lose weight, and not lower calorie intake due to the need of calories for growth. Limit time in front of the TV or non-active-video games. There have been studies showing the longer the length of time a child sit in front of the TV, the greater the weight gain. Limit high sugar drinks/snacks, and try replacing with milk/yogurt or fruit/popcorn/low-fat cheese. Additional suggestions: cook only low fat meats (chicken, fish, loin of pork) or non-meat sources (soy products, nuts), low fat vegetarian combinations (rice & beans, pasta & beans, low fat cheese & pasta), fat free or low fat dairy products (skim milk, 1% milk, low fat cheese, low fat yogurts, low fat soy milk/yogurt), use plant oils, non trans-fat margarines, and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Eat daily high fiber breads and cereals (oatmeal) and limit ‘junk’ foods. Hoped that helped you.