How to Increase Appetite of an Underweight Child?

Usually, children burn a lot of calories through activities like running around, jumping etc. So, if they don’t eat a proper diet, they are likely to be underweight in spite of being absolutely healthy.

If you find that your child is not eating enough and failing to gain weight, you must take certain steps to make sure that the child grows properly both in height and weight. The first thing you should do to ensure that your child’s weight increase is changing his food habits. For doing so, you may need to change the food habit of your entire family. If you and the other members of your family rely on quick fixes and small meals, you must set a time when all the members of your family will have to sit around the dining table for eating together. This will make the act of having meals a fun experience. You can also play the favorite music of your child during the meal time. This will help in stimulating his appetite through brain relaxation. Try to find out what are the types of food your child loves the most. Include those food types into each of his meals; however, make sure that you are not repeating the same dishes every day.

When you are trying to increase the food consumption of your child, you may need to include certain unhealthy food items to his diet plan. However, once his appetite increases, you may replace those unhealthy food items with healthier alternatives. An underweight child’s diet must include a large portion of healthy carbohydrate (for instance: pasta, potatoes, wild rice, whole-meal breads etc), a single portion of lean meats (for instance turkey, fish, flank steak or chicken), dairy products (for instance, cheese, milks, butter etc) and fresh vegetables and fruits in high amounts.

Popularity: 3% [?]