Thinness in children
During the infancy and childhood phase, the body is growing faster than any other time in life. Children need healthy and varied food to meet their body needs for growth. Parents are often concerned about their children’s weight and feel low. Each child has different bone structure. And are different from each other, and vary in their growth rate as well.
The thinner child may return to his or her genes and body, and this may be a more serious cause. If the child’s weight is suddenly reduced and different from the previous growth rate, parents are advised to check with the doctor to determine if the child’s weight is below normal levels and try to find out why.
Doctors often rely on standard growth tables established by the CDC; these tables are for boys and girls, and are suitable for all races, races and nationalities. The different body measurements of the child are compared to that of children of the same age and sex. The doctor also performs clinical and laboratory tests to determine the causes of low weight.
Methods of fattening children
If weight loss is not related to pathological reasons, you need medical advice. The following tips can be used to increase the weight of children:
Improve the appetite of children
The problem of obstruction of appetite is more common among children between the ages of two and six, and may be the cause of natural: The child’s needs for calorie after the first year, and may be temporary reasons for the return of the child’s natural appetite for the disappearance of the cause, such as infections and mouth ulcers and tongue, The appearance of teeth, the reasons may be psychological, the child’s feeling of distress or discomfort, or the connection of food to disturbing events may lose his appetite for food. Also pay attention to the way the child is fed and not forced to eat because the child will feel that eating becomes punishment for him. The result is reversed Of. In contrast, the following solutions are recommended that can help increase the child’s appetite for food:
- Lack of focus in talking with the child on the subject of eating, and stay away from the method of rigor and threat.
- Take into account the child’s preference for more food items than others, and involve him in selecting foods to encourage him to eat them.
- The child’s participation in food preparation will increase his desire to eat it too.
- Trying not to feed the child foods that may be oily and fill the appetite for the main meal between meals, such as milk and sweets, and drinking water before meals also may contribute to blocking the appetite of the child.
- Prepare the child’s dish with attractive and fun shapes and colors, and try to hide some of the ingredients that he does not like so that they do not appear clearly, or offer them in another form he may prefer.
- Sitting parents and brothers to eat and make it time for the family, and encourage the child to eat indirectly.
Modified quality and quantity of food
The goal of the following tips is to provide the child with calories and nutrients enough to try to reach the normal weight of his age:
- Distribution of meals during the day, where meals are every two to three hours, and are three main meals and two meals to three snacks (Snack).
- Fast food and sweets may contain a large amount of calories, but their protein content, vitamins and minerals important for growth is small, not a preferred option to raise the weight of the child.
- Choose foods that contain useful fats such as avocados, nuts, and vegetable oils such as olive oil.
- Choose foods rich in calories, such as whole-fat milk and its products, especially cheeses, eggs, potatoes, and fruit jam.
- Add carbohydrate sources to meals, such as rice, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, pastries, and pancakes.
- Choose the appropriate snack meals, such as milk, milk ice cream, bananas, fruit added to honey or sugar, fruit salad and dates.
- Butter, mayonnaise, cheese or peanut butter can be added to dishes to increase their calorie content.
- For infants who have begun to eat, boiled rice water, ground rice, or cooked milk can be added to increase their calories. Starch can be added to milk and served as a snack.
- There are some cases that require a doctor to prescribe high calorie dietary supplements, vitamins and minerals, and syrup. These supplements should be used only after consulting a doctor.
Children’s natural weight
According to the World Health Organization, the natural weights of children of the Middle East born natural weights as follows:
- At birth: The normal child weight is between 2.5-4.5 kg with an average weight of 3.5 kg.
- Six months old: The normal child weight is between 6.5-10 kg with an average weight of 8 kg.
- Age (12 months): The normal child weight is between 8-12 kg with an average weight of 10 kg.
- 2 years old (24 months): The normal child weight is 10-14.5 kg with an average weight of 12.3 kg.
- Three years old: The normal child weight is between 12-17 kg with an average weight of 14 kg.
- 4 years old: The normal child weight is between 14-20 kg with an average weight of 16 kg.
- 5 years old: The normal child weight is 14.5-23 kg with an average weight of 18 kg.
Causes of low weight in children
There are many reasons for lower child weight than normal, such as preterm delivery. And low child weight at birth. And other unexpected causes related to child health:
- Malnutrition, the lack of access to the required quantities of food, at the age of less than a year is the main cause of problems in the process of breastfeeding and the lack of access to the infant enough milk, and it is worth mentioning that the failure to provide solid foods for the child at the age of six months may lead to not Food is acceptable in the future, so the child does not take the need of food, and may be a reason for the weakness of the child’s appetite.
- Gastrointestinal problems, may affect the process of absorption of food, or problems of diarrhea or frequent vomiting.
- In rare cases, the cause may be hormone-related illnesses, neurological and respiratory problems, chronic kidney and liver disease, and congenital heart defects.
Complications and risk of low weight children
A child’s lack of weight and lack of adequate long-term food may lead to the following problems:
- Weakness of the body’s immune system and its ability to fight diseases.
- The slow growth rate of the child and the lack of arrival levels of natural height for those in his age.
- This may affect the development of his educational and intellectual abilities.
- Note: Some parents may want to increase the weight of their child, even if he weighs within the normal limit, thinking that increasing the weight of the child is better for his health, but on the contrary may harm the excess weight of the health of the child, and makes him more prone to obesity and chronic diseases when he grows up.