How to help my teenager gain weight

[lovinmyboys]

My ds14 is pretty small and would like to  gain some weight. He hasn’t really hit his growth spurt yet. He is approx 5ft 6 and 100lbs. I was just going to wait for the hormones to kick in, but Dh says he won’t get bigger if he doesn’t eat. So, what kinds of foods should I stock? He isn’t super picky, but he also is maybe a lazy eater? And he has preferences. He doesn’t really like eggs or oatmeal, but he will eat them. There are lots of other examples of that. I do have a picky eater, and this ds isn’t, but left to his own devices he doesn’t eat well.
 

One of my problems is that he is in public high school and he has a sports workout at 6am. I am so not a morning person (point for homeschool) and getting up to make him a good breakfast is hard.

I would love some breakfast ideas that can be made ahead of time, or a kick in the pants to be a good mom. Also, just ideas for snacks to keep on hand.

[IfIOnly]

Protein shakes for snacks or even breakfast. I resorted to this because my guys weren't eating a good protein breakfast before work this summer. Just cereal. They noticed that their aches and pains from standing and other work related stuff pretty much disappeared after and pretty significantly for my oldest. He was having back aches and leg pain. Protein is important, especially for growing kids  Costco has a great price on protein powder. They added it to whole milk and also added fruit and flaxseeds and nut butters. I think fat is important too.

Edited November 4, 2020 by IfIOnly

[Arcadia]

Proteins. Protein shakes for him to drink after his 6am workout if you don’t mind the expense. Jerky is high protein and convenient, can be store bought or homemade.

[Tap]

Scrambled eggs are super easy to make in the morning. I know you will get lots of regular meal ideas. I have two kids who were athletes and the best way to add weight to them, was nightly milkshakes. Good quality ice cream is our standard for weight gain, but also making fruit smoothies with coconut cream is a great way to add fat/calories. 

[prairiewindmomma]

My boys make a bunch of breakfast tacos (cooked scrambled eggs, seasoned hash browns, breakfast sausage, cheese) and freeze them. They make about 10 dozen at a time, and eat two each in the am for first breakfast. They microwave easily.

When they are more functional, they then eat more. I keep my house stocked with nuts, cheese & crackers, hard boiled eggs, bagels and cream cheese, cooked chicken, microwaveable lentils, and fruit and veg. My oldest (18) is probably down to 2400 calories a day, but at peak growth, he ate about 6000 a day. Both of my boys are skinny, but only my younger one is on the edge of being underweight at this point. I don’t mind that my younger son eats so much, but I do push him towards fats and protein more than carbs. No sugar. No junk food. Nutrition matters. When the metabolism slows, you want that foundation of healthy eating patterns in place.

[Scarlett]

I had a thin kid who was not picky exactly but sort of uninterested in food. He just wouldn’t think about it.  I found peanut butter and honey sandwiches, good ice cream, eggs.....pasta....those things put a bit of weight on him.

[Laura Corin]

FWIW nothing helped with my eldest.  If I added in one thing then she stopped eating others.  She just didn't have a big appetite.  She has put on a bit of weight now in her early twenties, but is still pretty thin.  She didn't grow as tall as projected - I don't know if low appetite contributed to that.  She had a healthy, balanced diet.

[MEmama]

Are you sure he’s underweight? My 17 yo is 5’9 or 5’10 and sometimes reaches 120 lbs. He is very athletic (varsity runner) and eats accordingly.

At 14 I don’t think he was anywhere near 100lbs. 

 

[EmilyGF]

When ds14 was told he needed to gain weight by (I kid you not) "eating more ice cream" by his doctor, I called the friend who had pointed me to the book "Feeding with Love and Good Sense" when the same kid refused to eat any solid food until after his first birthday.

She suggested I start buying oil-packed tuna and sardines for him to eat for lunch. I bought salted nuts (unsalted don't make you mouth hungry in the same way) and put his name on them. I bought higher fat milk, a tricky topic since ds8 is quite sturdily built and gets the opposite advice. But I tried to focus on nutrient dense foods that he could eat whenever hungry.

Emily

[Kassia]

6 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

When ds14 was told he needed to gain weight by (I kid you not) "eating more ice cream" by his doctor,

 

This reminds me of our pediatrician who told me to feed dd fast food when she was around 2 to gain weight.  

My kids all struggled to gain weight and so does DH (I have the opposite problem!).  I also focused on feeding them nutrient dense foods.  DH's doctor told him many years ago to add butter to his foods to increase fat/calories as long as his cholesterol stayed healthy.  One of my kids just wasn't interested in eating or would get busy and forget - we would give him Boost to drink or carnation instant breakfast - things like that just to increase his calories.  

 

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, EmilyGF said:

When ds14 was told he needed to gain weight by (I kid you not) "eating more ice cream" by his doctor, I called the friend who had pointed me to the book "Feeding with Love and Good Sense" when the same kid refused to eat any solid food until after his first birthday.

She suggested I start buying oil-packed tuna and sardines for him to eat for lunch. I bought salted nuts (unsalted don't make you mouth hungry in the same way) and put his name on them. I bought higher fat milk, a tricky topic since ds8 is quite sturdily built and gets the opposite advice. But I tried to focus on nutrient dense foods that he could eat whenever hungry.

Emily

I had that situation in my house.  One needed to lose and one needed to keep his weight up.  

[BlsdMama]

9 hours ago, lovinmyboys said:

My ds14 is pretty small and would like to  gain some weight. He hasn’t really hit his growth spurt yet. He is approx 5ft 6 and 100lbs. I was just going to wait for the hormones to kick in, but Dh says he won’t get bigger if he doesn’t eat. So, what kinds of foods should I stock? He isn’t super picky, but he also is maybe a lazy eater? And he has preferences. He doesn’t really like eggs or oatmeal, but he will eat them. There are lots of other examples of that. I do have a picky eater, and this ds isn’t, but left to his own devices he doesn’t eat well.
 

One of my problems is that he is in public high school and he has a sports workout at 6am. I am so not a morning person (point for homeschool) and getting up to make him a good breakfast is hard.

I would love some breakfast ideas that can be made ahead of time, or a kick in the pants to be a good mom. Also, just ideas for snacks to keep on hand.

My skinniest kid gained some weight after going gluten free.  How odd is that? I've heard that happen to others as well.  She is also the child (of two) with the worst teeth in our family... A friend told me her son was like this as well.  Essentially gluten can damage the gut so nutrients aren't absorbed well.  

I have a hard time keeping on weight as well.  I drink coconut cream (not milk) in my coffee.  I add Ancient Nutrition bone broth protein to my smoothies. 

[lovinmyboys]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

Are you sure he’s underweight? My 17 yo is 5’9 or 5’10 and sometimes reaches 120 lbs. He is very athletic (varsity runner) and eats accordingly.

At 14 I don’t think he was anywhere near 100lbs. 

 

No I don’t think he is underweight. He is in the 25th percentile I think. Part of it is that he has only grown about an inch a year since he was 10 and he has gained about 10lbs in the last 4 years. He has really fallen off his growth chart, but some of that (or maybe all of that) is that he is hitting puberty later.

The other problem is he really wants to make the baseball team and he is much smaller than everyone else. 
 

And one last problem is that I really don’t think he eats enough. 
 

It is possible that his genetics are just going to have him be a smaller guy, but he wants to try eating more to see if he can get a little bigger.

[Emba]

Make ahead breakfast: if he will eat eggs, eggs are a great source of protein, cheap, and easy to fix. Even my ds who is very meh about eggs will eat them on game days when he knows he needs protein.

 Breakfast burritos Can be fixed the night before, refrigerated, and microwaved the next morning, or for the several next mornings. Also, I do not eat eggs, but in a burrito with sausage or bacon, cheese, onions, potatoes, etc. I can’t taste them so I’ll eat breakfast burritos.

 Another hit in my family is pancake egg sandwiches. Make a batch of plain pancakes, using a 1/4 cup measuring cup for the batter so they’re all uniform in size. If there is an odd number of pancakes, eat one. Divide the remaining number of pancakes by 2 and cook that many eggs. Put a slice of cheese on top of each egg, and make a sandwich with two pancakes. Wrap in foil. Put all the sandwiches into a large freezer bag and freeze. Microwave until warm enough to eat.

My husband likes these better than frozen breakfast burritos because the pancakes don’t tend to get hard like tortillas do when you microwave them from frozen.

greek yogurt is also high protein and an easy breakfast, but check the nutritional info. Some is labeled as Greek or Greek style but doesn’t have any more protein than regular yogurt. Also Greek is sometimes available with full fat instead of low or no fat, which could help with weight gain.

Edited November 4, 2020 by Emba

[DoraBora]

I haven't read all of the replies. 

Would he spread avocado on his breakfast toast?  Those are pretty high in calories and mono-fat, and they're nutrient dense.

[Emba]

I also like deviled eggs and will eat those for breakfast, but the people in my house who really actually like eggs don’t want a cold egg in the morning, so who knows?

And if he’s open to non breakfast items for breakfast, leftovers from supper require little prep. I love pizza for breakfast, pasta, quesadillas, chili, hamburgers, whatever (except fish). But I am basically alone in that here. DH thinks only breakfast foods are good in the morning.

[KungFuPanda]

Breakfast burritos can be made ahead and reheated quickly. 

[MEmama]

40 minutes ago, lovinmyboys said:

No I don’t think he is underweight. He is in the 25th percentile I think. Part of it is that he has only grown about an inch a year since he was 10 and he has gained about 10lbs in the last 4 years. He has really fallen off his growth chart, but some of that (or maybe all of that) is that he is hitting puberty later.

The other problem is he really wants to make the baseball team and he is much smaller than everyone else. 
 

And one last problem is that I really don’t think he eats enough. 
 

It is possible that his genetics are just going to have him be a smaller guy, but he wants to try eating more to see if he can get a little bigger.

14 seems really young to me to get worried. I’ve watched so many boys shoot up junior and even senior year in high school. I don’t personally think “eating more to gain height to play baseball” is a healthy attitude, but obviously ymmv. 
 

I'd wait til puberty, that tends to sort out a lot of body issues. Eating extra doesn’t translate to height.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

1 hour ago, lovinmyboys said:

No I don’t think he is underweight. He is in the 25th percentile I think. Part of it is that he has only grown about an inch a year since he was 10 and he has gained about 10lbs in the last 4 years. He has really fallen off his growth chart, but some of that (or maybe all of that) is that he is hitting puberty later.

The other problem is he really wants to make the baseball team and he is much smaller than everyone else. 
 

And one last problem is that I really don’t think he eats enough. 
 

It is possible that his genetics are just going to have him be a smaller guy, but he wants to try eating more to see if he can get a little bigger.

 

I agree with @MEmama - I really don't think there is any point in trying to put weight on a boy who is not yet going through puberty.  My soon-to-be 14 year old is only 4ft10 or 11, 80lbs.  Fattening him up won't push him into puberty.  I do encourage him to eat nutrient and calorie dense foods, especially cheese, whole milk, nuts, eggs, pasta, etc.   I do try to aim more for protein and fat than carbs, but he still gets plenty of carbs!  I just mean rather than a second bowl of cereal, I have him take a second serving of cheese (and THEN he can have another bowl of cereal).   

Typical breakfasts are:  eggs on toast with a glass of milk, cereal with milk and slices of cheese on the side, leftovers from dinner, etc.   I can't imagine eating before working out, ugh...  My mom solved this problem for me in high school by sending me to school with a protein bar and fruit to eat after my AM workout.  Things like Powerbars can be extremely calorie dense, yet pretty easy to gulp down before class.    

[Alicia64]

I had a thin kid who was also super picky -- he still won't touch chocolate -- and here's what I gave him:

• I made daily smoothies: whole milk, frozen strawberries (from Costco), a touch of OJ, whole banana, and high-fat yogurt. (If he'd eaten frozen blueberries, I would have put them in too.)
• Kept him in whole milk which really helped (he's 17 today).
• I'd also suggest -- b/c it's the opposite of what I do 🙃 -- have him eat a large dinner, and then a bowl of cereal before bed.

Please don't anyone come down on me. This is just what we did for our ds who wasn't growing (b/c he wasn't eating).

W.

 

[Kassia]

38 minutes ago, Alicia64 said:

I had a thin kid who was also super picky -- he still won't touch chocolate -- and here's what I gave him:

• I made daily smoothies: whole milk, frozen strawberries (from Costco), a touch of OJ, whole banana, and high-fat yogurt. (If he'd eaten frozen blueberries, I would have put them in too.)
• Kept him in whole milk which really helped (he's 17 today).
• I'd also suggest -- b/c it's the opposite of what I do 🙃 -- have him eat a large dinner, and then a bowl of cereal before bed.

Please don't anyone come down on me. This is just what we did for our ds who wasn't growing (b/c he wasn't eating).

W.

 

Why would anyone come down on you?  These are great suggestions.  🙂

[Alicia64]

38 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Why would anyone come down on you?  These are great suggestions.  🙂

Thanks Kassia! I'm pretty sure I have PTSD from posting long ago.

W.

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, Kassia said:

Why would anyone come down on you?  These are great suggestions.  🙂

Because that is what we do! Sadly. 
I agree great suggestions.