Should I be concerned about difficult child weight?

[whateveryousay2007]

Okay my little guy just turned 9. He's always been little for his age, he's 4'3 & weighs 52 lbs. ( He's in the 6th percentile for weight. ) He looks more like a 6 year old than a 9 year old. I don't really put a lot of thought behind his size because his regular pediatrician keeps telling me he's fine.

Over the weekend he played in the swimming pool with kids ranging from 6-9. When he took his shirt off I was getting looks. The feed your kid look. He just doesn't eat like a normal kid. He hardly eats at all. I know some of it can be attributed to him being on medicine. But, I'm sure the sensory issues play a part too. He actually eats more now than he has in the past.

His bio-dad is skinny too, but I'm concerned that he's too small. (I'm not concerned about his height...he's actually grown about 2 inches since he's been to the doctor.) He goes to the developmental pediatrican this month.

Of course I'm going to express my concerns to him but I'm just curious if anyone else has this issue & what they've done about it (or plan to do about it).....

 

[LittleDudesMom]

WYS, I think the fact that he is seeing a developmental peddoc in a month will help you with an answer.

My son is also small, not height-wise, but circumfrence-wise. Some of his issues with weight over the years have been medication induced. For example, he would gain weight a little weight over the summer when the stimulant was removed, and also gained when he was on an ad. However, he is just thin. I used to wonder how his little neck supported his big head!!!!

I'm sure the dev peddoc will have some answers/suggestions.

Sharon

 

[smallworld]

I agree that the developmental pediatrician should be able to give you some answers. If it gives you any comfort, the fact that he's growing height-wise means he's getting enough calories to support that growth.

My girls are very small for their ages. When their height/weight started to flatten on their growth curves, their pediatrician referred us to a pediatric endocrinologist, who did a full work-up to make sure there wasn't anything genetic or metabolic affecting their growth. They have what is called idiopathic (which means origin unknown) short stature and delayed growth and are being treated with growth hormone therapy. But growth hormone will only affect height, not weight.

There are ways of getting more "bang for the buck" in the nutrition department if you're so inclined. For example, you can supplement your difficult child's diet with drinks like Ensure and Carnation Instant Breakfast, which have a lot of vitamins and calories in an 8 oz glass. I'm sure a nutritionist would be able to give you a lot more ideas.

 

[whateveryousay2007]

See...difficult child won't drink Carnation (I've already tried that) he won't even drink milk anymore. I've tried the nutri-pals (he's a choc-o-holic) he tells me that he wants to gain extra pounds (he's funny) but he thinks it only comes from food. He's so rigid in his thinking that you can't convince him otherwise.

Then he thinks that eating a bacon sandwich (1/2 a sandwich) at lunch is going to do something for him.

 

[Marguerite]

A friend of mine who desperately needed to fatten up her daughter, used to follow her around with food. She bought a popcorn machine. This woman was very Earth Mother, made her own bread from scratch etc but the popcorn machine was justified, she was so desperate.
She would make big bowls of popcorn for her daughter and all the neighbourhood kids who came round to play. Endless popcorn with lots of butter.
The little girl would get too tired to eat because her muscles were weak. She would be too tired to chew and was often too tired to walk.

I would make meals for your son that are as concentrated nourishment as possible (stews, if he will eat them - maybe he would eat them as filling in a pie?) and just keep feeding him. Do what my friend did and follow him around with a spoon if you have to, to get him to eat while he's distracted watching TV or playing a game, maybe.

I will put a bowl of food down in front of difficult child 3 while he is doing schoolwork for example, or reading a book. He will eat more than he realises when he's distracted.

Another thing that might help - since he seems motivated to gain weight, teach him how to interpret the nutrition information labels, so he can learn how to give his body the best fuel possible.

Good luck! It's not easy.

Marg

 

[bran155]

Hi. My son is 7 and is also very skinny. I was going to suggest that you give him carnation, but I saw that he wont drink it. What about smoothies?? They are healthy and taste like dessert. My son is not on any medications but he just doesn't like to eat. I too have questioned my pediatrician, she also says he is fine. All of his blood work is normal. He has days where he eats like a little piggy and then days where he barely eats anything.

What if you put ice cream and carnation in a blender and call it a milkshake??

 

[susiestar]

Would he eat the Zone or Balance Bars? My kids love them, and we often get them instead of candy bars. It costs more, but is far healthier.

I really think how he feels should be part of this. I was 5'0" and 79 lbs when I graduated from high school. I felt horrible most of the time. The "freshman 15" took 3 years, but it made me feel better. I know my mom got those looks too.

If this is how the family tends to be, you may not be able to do much about it. Just be sure to ask the dev pediatrician about it - he will be far more able to help.

 

[witzend]

I was a terribly thin child, as was my brother. I would eat regular meals and would eat just plain fat (crisco - yuck! - out of the can when mom was baking) and everything was fried in bacon grease. We were just plain bony. This was in the early 60's and I was about 3 - 4 years old and everyone called me twiggy. I heard it all, skinny, skeleton, knee butt. (Your butt looks like two bony knees together.) As an adult I constantly heard "anorexic", which was even used against me in hearings with L's dad as "no one could be that thin and not be anorexic." I stayed that way until I was in my 30's after I quit smoking. Now I'm just thin.

I don't think I would say anything to your son. If he's not eating enough at meals, try snacks that he enjoys. Stay away from the high fructose corn syrup, but make some cookies and freeze them so that there will be a few every day for him. If he likes cookies and milk, get whole milk for him. If he eats cereal, use the whole milk. Find a type of toast that he likes. English muffins or bagels, and lots of butter. If he likes nuts, get him some cashews or smoke house almonds. All of those things are less expensive at Costco or Sam's Club. Let him pick out a healthy filling snack.

But my strong advice to you is to not say anything to him about his weight or his appetite. I doubt that it is something he is consciously doing, and it wouldn't help him at all to be told that there is something wrong with him and that he is being singled out by his mom for what amounts to "self harming" behavior.

If you modify his eating habits, and there is no movement a month or six weeks down the road, contact his doctor for advice.

 

[KTMom91]

Miss KT was always very thin, almost bony, as a child. She didn't eat much on a regular basis, but when she started packing it away, I knew she was getting ready to outgrow all her clothes! She loves popcorn, crackers with butter, pita chips...give her carbs and she's a happy camper!

Since he doesn't think you can drink your calories, can you convince him bodybuilders drink whole milk? How about pudding, again made with whole milk? If he wants to build up some muscles and be strong, maybe a modified weightlifter or football player diet would work.

 

[Marguerite]

Witz, to be fair, there is a very good reason for you to have been so thin. The young girl I mentioned in my post above has the same condition - she was diagnosed when she was 3, but the parents were told (maybe erroneously?) that they HAD to make her eat because she would never put on more muscle mass very easily, and if she was tiring too easily so she was not eating because she was too tired - they were told they would lose her, they would be lucky if she lived to reach her teens. She's now almost 21 and studying overseas, living independently and doing brilliantly. HOWEVER - I remember when she was very young, what a struggle is was.
I also remember how much criticism she has got, and her parents have had, because she "looks anorexic". People would say she had no sense of humour or was a sad little girl, because she never smiled. I reckon she'd be a blast at poker, although she does smile now. Just not obviously; you have to know her. And any comments she gets about being anorexic - this girl can really take care of herself. Nobody says it to her twice!
But easy child 2/difficult child 2 and difficult child 3 have been REALLY thin for no sound medical reason (not just the stims - easy child 2/difficult child 2 didn't start stims until she was 10, she was already skinny before that), we've been getting the "don't you feed your child" COMMENTS, not just looks. But when this little girl stood next to my little girl - easy child 2/difficult child 2 seemed chubby by comparison.

WYS, your son is Aspie. If he's on medications, I presume it's stims? Something like Concerta? And chances are, he's got Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) in there as well, compounding the problem of what he will eat and what he won't. You also need to be careful about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but from what you say I don't think he is likely to obsess about "a need to lose weight". It sounds to me, from what you have said, that he is aware that he needs to eat healthy food, and that he needs to gain weight in a healthy way. He IS on your side in this (on HIS side, actually).

What really got difficult child 3 into reading nutrition labels - he was on the Elimination Diet and was highly motivated to get results. We would shop with the little booklets the hospital clinic had given us and it didn't take long before difficult child 3 had them memorised.

What we've also done - we DO give way to his Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) and cook to take his food preferences into account. We've done the same with the others. (Mind you, we're happy now easy child 2/difficult child 2 has moved out because it has made it much easier to cook more variety). But we do test him every so often: "We know you used to hate gravy on your meat, but have another small taste; your tastes may have changed."

difficult child 3 dislikes certain textures. Mostly, he hates creamy textures. This means he won't eat anything with cream in it, which means most cakes. He has come round to like butter cream frosting on cakes, but it took us making a cake and him tasting all along the way, to realise he liked it. He won't eat bananas or anything with banana, which means no smoothies. He WILL now eat my chocolate banana cake though. I swamp the banana flavour with cocoa.

easy child 2/difficult child 2 won't eat anything with "bits" in it. She WILL eat anything with creamy textures; in fact, it's about all she WILL eat. I could make chocolate cake or brownies, but I'm not permitted to put nuts in anything. Her sole exception is I can put cashews, fried, in stir-fry dishes. A lot of the time I'd go to the trouble of making a meal that difficult child 3 would eat and another that easy child 2/difficult child 2 would eat, only to find she was off her food that night. Very annoying. However, by cooking some base ingredients in bulk, it became easier to customise meals with minimal extra effort. So a big vat of bolognese sauce can be difficult child 3's nachos (corn chips, bolognese sauce, grated cheddar, all put under the grill) or easy child 2/difficult child 2's tacos (smothered in sour cream).

We have a diagram of the food pyramid inside our pantry door. When they were studying nutrition at school, difficult child 3 already knew it all and actually gave a talk to the class on how to eat healthy meals.

An Aspie kid generally gets delivered with obsessions almost built-in, as standard fitting. If you use those obsessions for good rather than evil, you can turn it to your advantage.

difficult child 3 is older than your son, we're further along the road here. Because we insist that he at least taste a different food before rejecting it, his tastes are broader than they could be. His autistic best friend (same age as your son) is a real worry to his mother, for his not eating. I teach one day a week at the school and often see difficult child 3's friend during my lunchtime lesson - I encourage the kids to eat their lunch during the lesson, I nag them all. I'll even put their rubbish in the bin for them so they don't get distracted from what they're doing. Sometimes they get so absorbed that they forget to eat; so I remind then, and without thinking about it, they reach for their sandwich or apple and eat it.

You can do the same - if he's concentrating on a book or a computer game, put food in front of him (healthy snacks - don't just try to fatten him up, he won't thank you later in life).

I just gave difficult child 3 a light lunch - we'd had a small steak left over from last night's dinner, so I reheated it for him and served it with some fresh salad.
He wanted more to eat. So I made a small batch of Chicken Supreme (yes, it's a creamy sauce - it's based on a white sauce made with stock and powdered milk, with vegetables and chicken meat in it) and I served up what turned out to be a full meal's worth. He ate the lot. An hour later he's come back asking for a snack. I told him to make himself some nachos, I had some bolognese sauce in the fridge.
I just heard him put his dishes in the dishwasher. So for lunch - he's had steak & salad; chicken supreme and rice; nachos. He'll probably want another steak for dinner, with another salad.
This has been very unusual, but when he is hungry and wants a snack, he gets s sound, balanced meal. If it means he's not hungry at mealtime - no worries, he's already HAD a meal!

I think difficult child 3 is doing this because he's on a growth spurt.

I feed my kids when they're hungry, so if they're too tired to eat later on, it's no big deal. We keep healthy food available for this. I need to cook more rice - difficult child 3 ate the last of it - but we still have a curried beef to finish, plus the bolognese sauce, plus steaks than can be quickly fried. Oh, and some chicken stock and cooked chicken for a number of possible recipes in a flash. Raw salad vegetables; raw carrots (which I either hand out whole, Bugs Bunny style, or slice into lattices and leave in a bowl like crisps).

While I love serving healthy smoothies for a fast breakfast (I used to put a raw egg in as well) some kids especially some Aspies find the texture a problem. But there are other ways! The egg can be hard-boiled and served with a dip, cold.

Good luck with this one!

Marg

 

[susiestar]

I also got the "anorexic" tag as a child, in fact through early college. I had a chemical mix-up in my body and the message that I was hungry didn't get through a lot of the time. It was NOT an eating disorder in the traditional sense, but the stress I felt, and the bad body image because I was so skinny that I felt totally unattractive was NOT a good thing. They eventually put me on some steroids to try to ramp up my appetite - NOT a winning move.

what worked was having a loyal group of friends who saw I simply didn't realize I was hungry. In high school they would drag me to breakfast and lunch, sometimes even dinner if we were out doing things. In college it was a guy who was a big brother kind of friend who was shocked when I went 3 days with-o eating because a migraine. He made a point of calling and getting the gang we hung out with to drag me to meals.

It may just need to be persistence and having food he will eat on hand. My youngest ate those terrible premade cheese crackers for lunch every day this last year, except when he had school lunch. It was the same lunch every day - he wanted pnut butter, but it is banned in our schools.

Good luck with-this. It is hard.

 

[1 Day At a Time]

This is a real challenge for us as well. Our difficult child is an Aspie too, and the list of foods that he will eat is very, very small. He has always been very thin and honestly, I worry about this constantly. We've had visits with a nutritionist and she says he is getting his dietary needs met, but I'm suspicious about this.

We have purposely never made a big deal about this problem, and we don't alter our menus. But I will say, if difficult child doesn't like the food being offered, and there are no other choices, he simply will not eat. This is not normal in my honest opinion. It's not that he's not hungry - it's just that he is so repelled by so many foods he won't eat them. We have believed that he would outgrow this problem with time, but he has not. He'll be 17 next month and the food choices have not expanded. I guess there is always hope for the future!

Curiously enough, husband is famous in his family for the same issues. When I first met his mother she told me several times that husband would only eat 5 foods as a child. Now, though, he'll eat just about anything.

I'm reading the ideas presented here. Good luck, and I hope that we both find some answers for our difficult children' eating issues!

 

[Marguerite]

The food faddishness is probably connected to Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), if you've got a kid with autism or Asperger's.

As someone who also had strong likes/dislikes as a kid, let me plead on behalf of your children. In our more modern times we have the luxury of wider range of foods, more technology with which to prepare them and also more scope to cook multiple meals and cater for diverse tastes with less effort than it took to cook one meal for the same number of people, back in the bad old days before microwave ovens, crock pots, supermarkets and big freezers. I grew up having to stay at the table until I'd eaten everything on my plate. We were not well off; we grew most of our own food and my mother was so busy, had so much to do that she just didn't have the time to be a good cook. What meat we bought, was generally really cheap cuts. My mother would still cook steak as people like to cook steak - either grilling or pan-frying. But you don't do that to cheap cuts of steak especially if you don't own steak knives. The end result was literally like boot leather. I declared myself a vegetarian before I was at school. Not only was I a fussy eater, but I had some food allergies which WERE catered to.

To feed a large family on a tight budget, there were far fewer options back in the Fifties. Packing in the carbs was cheap tummy filler. But the main options were potatoes, bread and rice. Rice stored the best, so we were fed a lot of rice in various forms, including rice pudding which I learned to hate. If the rice pudding got scorched at all, it still couldn't be wasted. Burnt bits were cut off and the thing was still presented, even though the taste of blackened sugar had permeated the whole thing. These days, multiculturalism has given us many other high carb budget options such as pasta in vast diversity such as gnocchi.
Other food varieties - similar increase in options.

So we CAN do it.

I know that if I had been permitted some leeway I would have learned to eat a wider range of foods much sooner. But having to force down an entire meal which made me feel sick with every mouthful - I can still feel what it was like to try to eat a rice salad with small pieces of green pepper (capsicum) which tasted so bitter to me that I would swallow the pieces whole rather than chew. I learned very early where on my tongue the different types of tastebuds were so I could in my mouth place each type of food I didn't like so I wouldn't have to taste it before I swallowed it whole. I choked a few times when the pieces were a bit big. I also had to sit next to my father who would either scold or smack me on the leg if I "misbehaved". My memories of family mealtimes as a kid - atrocious. Horrible.

Maybe that is one reason why I've been far more willing to give the kids some space over their food issues.

Food shouldn't be wasted. But you can always make different choices at the time you buy the food and again as you prepare the food.

My parents didn't have that range of choice. As I've grown older, and choice has been diversified, I've found other ways to make unpalatable foods more acceptable.

It is often said that a child will not willingly starve themselves. Eventually they will eat, when they are hungry enough. But let me assure you, if your child is not eating what is available because they really do not like it, I believe they WILL continue to go hungry rather than eat it, if their dislike is intense enough. There is a lot more food available these days, it is much easier for a hungry child to sneak the food they like or to find snacks or rubbish, if they are hungry and the main meal is unpalateable. If you don't make some allowances often enough, you could risk driving your child into foraging habits that you cannot monitor, and set up lifelong unhealthy eating patterns.

If the dietician says your child is getting enough nutrition, then you are doing well. Some children are naturally thin - they burn off a lot of energy, too. What your child needs to grow healthy and strong is good nutrition, not just calories. Aim for balance, but please give the child some choice in what foods they eat, if it's not too much trouble. It may end up being less trouble in the long run.

Marg

 

[slsh]

I come at this issue from a different place. Boo was a preemie and I spent the first 2 years of his life doing weekly (literally) pediatrician appts to check his weight. We did it all - karo syrup (now a no-no for infants), Polycose additives, high-calorie foods - I fed him so much sweet potato baby food that the kid turned orange!! It was an obsession with the pediatrician and therefore with me, and in hindsight it was one of the unhealthiest attitudes we could have adopted with him.

My take on weight now is not so much about the numbers, but about health. Weeburt has always been a rail and it's gotten worse with his recently added 4" of height. Yes, he could easily stand another 30 pounds, but I don't want to make him nuts about it. He's *healthy* and active and growing so in my totally lay opinion, he's fine. Ditto Boo. I'm not sure if he ever did make it onto the growth chart, but at probably somewhere around 5 feet or so and 115 pounds, he's *healthy*. No colds, no stomach issues. Diva is a heavier kid and we are working on portions and exercise (though she's also my most active kiddo to start with). But again, she's healthy and has a really good exercise capacity so while I'm watching her more closely, I'm not policing her intake. The kid I worry most about is thank you but it's more because he's so sedentary.

I definitely think the dev.pediatrician. would have the best input on this. Again, just my lay opinion, I think if he's getting a decent balanced diet and is growing in height, and most importantly is healthy and appropriately active, I wouldn't turn it into a huge issue with him.

 

[witzend]

Marg, it's true that I appear bony now because of my wasting muscles from the FSH, but that didn't manifest until my teens. My brother doesn't have it. He doesn't seem to have any troubles with it now that he's 50. I hesitate to recommend beer as a weight gain option in this case, though...

I hope your neighbor's daughter now knows that they do not recommend packing on the pounds anymore. It's too hard on what muscles we do have to carry around all of that weight!


In all fairness, I am 5'8" and weigh 130 lbs. As a young woman, I weighed between 100 - 115 lbs. When I went through the most stressful times with L and her dad and stepmom, I became very depressed and stopped eating. I just wanted to sit and smoke. I got down to 89 lbs. But it wasn't a vanity thing as that can be with anorexia. I just didn't care.

My doctor put me on a diet that was pretty easy to follow. "Eat 2000 calories a day." If what I was eating wasn't adding up to 2000 calories, I should eat cookies or ice cream until it added up to enough. He told me that eventually, my appetite for regular foods would increase and I would begin to eat regular meals. He was right - I did. But my frame and muscles will never be strong enough to hold up or move a large body mass, so now that my metabolism has changed, ice cream and cookies can't be on the menu.

 

[whateveryousay2007]

The problem is the Aspie just doesn't eat. And what he will eat is very limited.

He's 9 and I'm lucky if he'll eat at all.

Breakfast: Maybe (1) poptart or (1) honeybun or a bowl of cereal if he's really feeling frisky.
P.S.- He will eat a piece of bacon, pancakes, & toast but not at breakfast hours.....

Lunch: (1/2) PBJ sandwich or (6) PB crackers or (1) bag of popcorn or (1) slice pizza

Dinner: Very limited here. Chicken strips & fries, pizza, Miso Soup, steamed rice, roast (very little)

He won't eat hamburger, hot dogs, yellow cheese, any veggies, beans, pretty much anything except what I've listed above.

The only fruit he'll eat is a banana, but only half.

I know that the AS & stims play a big part in this. BUT he had almost no appetite before the stims.

 

[Marguerite]

That actually doesn't sound too bad. He's getting concentrated carbs for breakfast - when it can be used most effectively. Protein, carbs and vegetable fat for lunch (fat is OK if he's burning it up as fuel; vegetable means no cholesterol). Protein, fat, carbs for dinner. The half banana - some minerals and vitamins.
More food would be better, but at least he's doing better than my nephew who would eat nothing else but Vegemite sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner 7/52.

I'd be letting him eat when he's hungry, as long as what he eats is good enough food to count towards his daily food allowance.

When easy child was a baby I thought I had the youngest anorexic on the block. She would go all day with only one bottle of formula. That was it. In between she might have plenty of watered-down fruit juice and maybe a rusk (made from wholemeal bread). She often wouldn't finish her bottle, or the rusk. She went on like this from about a year old, to over two years old.

WYS, I wouldn't worry too much about him for now. Keep an eye on him, maybe try and get some vitamins or other supplement into him. Will he take vitamin pills? Sometimes they're easier than trying to get our boys to drink liquid supplements.
I'd be worrying about calcium, protein, vitamins & minerals. In that order.

What vegetables will he eat? Does he eat carrots? Raw or cooked? What about vegetable sticks with a dip of some sort? Will he drink milk? Even as milkshake? Would he eat custard? Eggs?
Although difficult child 3 doesn't like dips (creamy texture) there are some that he will eat - taramasalata and tzaziki are two that come to mind. Tzaziki is yogurt-based and really healthy. The shop-bought stuff is often not great, but it's really easy to make. Although both those dips are usually eaten with chunks of bread, they can also be eaten with vegetable sticks. A big afternoon feed of tzaziki has protein, calcium, trace minerals, some vitamins, fibre, some natural antibiotic. It's good stuff. If he filled up on it and had no room for dinner, it wouldn't be a tragedy.

I wouldn't stress too much. Try to extend the variety a little (don't push him too hard, though) so he's got a bit more variety, but when he gets a growth spurt he will get hungrier.

If your son is growing taller, then he is not so badly malnourished. His body has to get the raw materials from somewhere. Muscle growth requires protein; bone growth require calcium. Trace minerals and vitamins help other activities continue well. Carbs and fats fuel his activity by providing energy.

The main worry - calcium, Vitamin C and protein. The first two you can supplement (but not at the same time or it can precipitate out and cause kidney stones, if you give him big doses). The protein, he's getting from the chicken and the peanut butter.

An idea with the banana - why not stick the other half in the freezer? Peeled,d of course. Push a pop stick (or whatever you call them) into the cut end. The riper the banana, the better. You eat them frozen. A good freezer should freeze them had enough to stop any browning in the banana. If your freezer is frost-free, you need to seal the frozen bananas to avoid freezer burn. These are great in summer as a treat. Really good for teething babies, too, because they don't drop and they don't have big bits that break off and become a choking hazard.

Tzaziki recipe - you need a good quality European style (thick) plain yogurt (no flavour, no sugar). Add salt to taste. To a cup of yogurt, add about half a cup of finely shredded cucumber (use continental cucumbers for preference). Squeeze out any liquid from the cucumber before adding the flesh to the yogurt. Squeeze in a clove of garlic (more, if you like more) and for added taste, chop in some mint and/or dill weed. Store it in the fridge, serve with chunks of bread or vegetable sticks.
Do not make this in a blender - it turns watery and is awful.
You can also serve a number of meat dishes with a dollop of this on the side.
You say he won't eat vegetables - then serve this with bread (more traditional).

My kids aren't into vegetables much, but I found some combinations they enjoy - difficult child 1 discovered tomatoes plus continental cucumber, both chopped on a plate with a splash of olive oil and a dash of red wine vinegar. Served with bread chunks. And currently I've been using a waffle blade mandoline to cut carrots into a basket-weave effect. A bowl full of those while the kids are playing games and they eat them like they're potato crisps. Easy to do - you need the wavy blade slicer set for thin cuts. After each pass, rotate the vegetable 90 degrees and slice again. It is slower than plain slicing, but still fast enough for me, if it means the carrots get eaten. Doing potatoes like this and deep-frying them makes for a real gourmet effect with basket-weave look potato crisps.

Carrots like this are easier to eat as well because there is less chewing involved. You CAN steam them, but they are fragile and need to be not overcooked.

I'd be giving him the diet he wants for now, and getting him to take supplements. And wait for the growth spurt, hopefully he will get an appetite then. Don't stress too much just yet. Just keep his food healthy.

Witz, my young friend with FSH Muscular Dystrophy - I think they stopped stuffing calories into her when she was strong enough to stay awake and manage for a whole meal. They were stuck in a Catch 22 loop - the little girl was too tired to eat enough, and without food going in she wasn't building muscle and didn't have enough fuel to give her any energy. She was a real worry for some time. Her mother is vegetarian and has always been very slim. In fact, I do wonder how much of the daughter's slight build is the FSH and how much is heredity. We rarely see them now, from one year to the next. They live in an isolated country community "out back" in the western deserts. At least, the parents do. Both kids are now independent.

Marg

 

[whateveryousay2007]

He will eat one bite of broccoli. I'm not joking. That's it. No other veggies. PERIOD!

The foods I listed eariler he won't eat 3 meals a day. Most of the time he'll skip lunch or dinner.

He eats extremely small quanities even then. My thing is that he won't try new foods. I'm sure he would like them. He just refuses to try them.

Last night for diner he ate 1 piece of toast & 1/2 of a waffle. Lunch he ate 1/2 of a bacon sandwich. NO breakfast. That's it. All day. On the weekends I'm lucky to get one meal a day in him.

 

[Christy]

Peanutbutter is a great calorie dense food if there are no peanut allergies. you can even make healthier version of peanut butter cookies, add in some protein powder.

Whole-fat dairy products instead of fat free varieties.

Good Luck!

 

[Sara PA]

Not just loss the appetite but anorexia is listed in the Focalin prescribing information as a common side effect. It is acknowledged that all stims can cause failure in grow in children. I've seen the figure listed as on the average, kids who take it long term are an inch shorter than kids who don't take stims. I would have to be getting some pretty significant results from the Focalin in order for me to give that to my child who already had eating issues.

That said, you are trying to get him to eat breakfast before he takes his Focalin and you are prepared to give him whatever he'll eat after it wears off at night, aren't you?