Ideas to Help your Child Gain Weight

If you and your child's health professional have concerns regarding your child's growth, you could try the following ideas:

Handy Hints

• Try to give your child 1 pint of whole milk (Silver Top or Red Top) each day.
• Each day give your child
  • Breakfast
  • A mid-morning snack
  • Dinner - a main course and a pudding
  • A mid-afternoon snack
  • Evening Meal - a main course and a pudding
  • Supper or bedtime snack

Offer small portions each time if your child cannot manage much.

• Use full fat foods, e.g. full fat spreads (olive and polyunsaturated) or butter, instead of low fat spread
• Choose yoghurt and fromage frais made from whole milk NOT low fat or 'lite' varieties.
• Add full fat spread or butter to mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, vegetables, and chapatti.
• Do not use 'Diet', 'lite' or sugar-free foods. Add sugar to puddings and breakfast cereal.
• Sweets, chocolate and crisps are not nutritious snacks. Save these until after mealtimes so they do not spoil your child's appetite.
• Try not to let your child fill up on juice or fizzy pop before meals and snacks.

Nutritious Meals

These are important for good health and growth. A balanced dinner should include:

• Meat or fish or cheese or egg or chicken or beans or dahls and
• Vegetables/salad or fruit and
• Bread or potato or rice or chapatti or pasta

Remember to offer a pudding

Meal Ideas

Remember

Give a pint of milk per day. If your child will not drink milk try:

• Flavouring milk with Crusha Syrup, Nesquik, Drinking Chocolate, Horlicks, etc.

• Encourage foods made from milk, e.g.. Cheese, yoghurt, parsley or cheese sauce, milk puddings and custards.