Underweight

[ahnissa]

My son was born premature, at 28 weeks and 6 days weighing 3lbs 2 ozs (1260 g) with a height of (35.5 cm) 1 Foot 2”.  He was in an incubator for about a month during which he developed  problems with is bowels, he wasn’t digesting the milk properly which resulted into perforated bowel. He had two surgeries. Been a fighter, he survived the surgeries and by the corrected age of two, he had caught up with full-term born children. He is a happy 11-year-old now doing very well in school and socially and doesn’t get sick that often. He is very active and has been since he was a toddling. The problem is that he is a very “picky eater” and therefore doesn’t eat things that could fatten him up. He eats the same stuff all the time, cereal (plain cornflakes) with milk for breakfast, plain food for lunch or dinner with a basic snack (white bread with butter, carrot sticks and a multi-vitamin juice) in between meals. He some times eats a slice of white bread with some Nutella, which he loves for a snack. He eats no cheese, minimum amount of butter and he doesn’t like anything with sauces. He doesn’t have a sweet tooth either so, he hardly eats chocolates or sweets however, I have to kind of be behind him to eat fruits and vegetables (apart from carrot). He now weighs 65 lbs for a height of 5 feet 1” which places him below the 5th percentile BMI. I have consulted our peadiatrican numerous times about my son’s weight but he says not worry too much about it as both myself and my husband are just on the normal/average side BMI ourselves. But the trouble is, when he gets sick with a flu or something, he does not eat and therefore sheds out the little weight he has. This worries me a lot. So, please doctors, help me. How can I help him gain weight and maintain it? What should I be feeding him so that he gain put on some weight? How much weight should a child of his age be gaining per month/year?  
Thank you in advance for any help or advice.

[ahnissa]

Dear Renee,

thank you for your valuable time and suggestion. I have already started giving him milk shakes and will continue to give him different food that's high in calorie. Hopefully he will gain few kgs.

Thanks again and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Ahnissa.

[Renee Radenberg]

His weight is on the 10th percentile and his height is on the 95th percentile for his age. He appears thinner due to his tall stature. Genetics do play a role in our make-up. Suggest giving him nutrient dense drinks, instead of milk at meals, such as Carnation Instant Breakfast or milkshakes (milk, fruit, and ice cream blended) and giving him double of the foods he likes. This way he will get extra calories for weight gain.  Suggest a daily children's chewable multi-vitamin, too. Hoped this helped you.