A Healthy Way to Raise Children's Weight

Children often get taller before gaining weight, consequently, they have a body weight proportion below normal on the growth charts.
As a parent, Mother and Father must be worried that the child is too thin. If it's like this, the portion of food is added so that the child's body weight is ideal.

But remember, Mother, don't just add the portion. Also, pay attention to the content of fat and protein, which can increase a child's weight.
If this happens, you need to increase calories in your child's diet to make sure he gets enough calories and nutrients for his growth and development.

What needs to be done if your child is underweight?
If your child's weight gain seems too slow, you need to take your child to the doctor for an examination. There are several reasons why your child is underweight:

• not eating enough

• health problems that cause the child's weight gain too long or not at all

• stress

• too much exercise

• lack of interest in eating due to anxiety, depression, food allergies or eating disorders.

Your doctor can help find the cause of your child's weight gain problems. If your child is underweight, maybe they need fatter and calories for some time, compared to their normal recommendations. Doctors can also suggested physical activity for your child. The right amount of exercise can increase appetite for children.
How can a healthy child raise weight?
If your child does not have special attention to medical conditions, all you can do is
give more calories. For some children, providing a good source of fat, such as avocados, nuts and vegetable oil, can provide additional calories to achieve growth. Try to provide healthy and calorie-dense foods and snacks for your child.
However, don't give junk food to increase his weight. Embedded eating habits are small and can be difficult to change if it has become a habit.
Make mealtime funs. Sit together and enjoy food and time together. Involve the child in planning, shopping and preparing food, so that he is interested in food. Also, don't let your child be too busy, so he skips meals. Children need to eat frequently to increase their weight.
Here was a list of the high-calorie healthy foods that you can provide for your child:

• Dairy products: Pure milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream, cream soup, pudding.

• Protein: eggs, peanut butter, pea soup, beans.

• Carbohydrates: bread, mac and cheese, pasta, French toast, pancakes, mashed potatoes and cereals.

If your child chooses food and refusing food, doctors can recommend high-calorie supplement drinks. These supplements have a taste likes milkshakes and provide additional vitamins and minerals.
However, make sure your child doesn't drink too much until he is full and skipping food. Limit the juice to no more than 1 cup (0.24 l) per day and no more than 2 cups (0.47 l) of milk per day.
Even if you feel excited to see the development of your child's weight, don't ask your child to weigh too much, because it can make him feel insecure about his weight. However, the doctor will check the development of the child's weight about once a month. Suppose this visit to the doctor is a regular visit and do not enlarge the weighting weighs processed.

Healthy Foods to Increase Child's Weight

1. Butter

Not always butter is bad for children. This food can be a fat-rich food for children. But, that doesn't mean you can add flying to every food, huh. Just give enough butter, don't overdo it.Butter is often the reason obesity occurs in adults. But apparently, butter has good benefit for toddlers (infants under five years). Because, butter has a good fat contenting for growth.

Actually there is no problem giving butter as flavoring MPASI (complementary food for ASI) for Little One. It's just that, under certain conditions, the provision of butter must first is consulted with your pediatrician. Because, there are some children who are sensitive to the consumption of butter.
Then, what are the benefits of butter for MPASI Toddler? Here is what you can find outed to find out its uses for children:

Increase the number of calories in MPASI

Providing extra buttered to MPASI Toddler is good. The fat content can increase the number of calories in food. Thus, children will have more energy and be more active in carrying out daily activities.

As the body's energy source.

Certainly as a source of energy, butter will make the Little One more concentration to play, learn, and the stimulus you provide can be more perfectly lived. As a substitute for oil, butter is a good thing for energy sources in MPASI.

Helps the growth of nervous system.

Apparently regarding growth, butter is useful to help the growth of the nervous system. This is good because it is able to optimize children's intelligence development. Both in motion and thought.

Vitamin solvents to be absorbed by the would body

Giving buttered to children's milk can help dissolve vitamins from other food ingredients. This is good for bettered absorption of vitamins in the body of toddlers.
Do you want to create a child's MPASI with butter? You can try mixing Milna Baby Porridge or Milna Baby Biscuits with food ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and fruit. Various choices of MPASI ingredients.

2. Peanut butter.

To prepare practical provisions, you can apply peanut buttered to the bread. Besides being easy, peanut butter is also useful for kids. These foods are rich in unsaturated fats, and proteins that can help increase a child's weight.Peanut butter contains proteins that can help the growth and development of children. While the vitamins and minerals can support the little one's immune system.If your child is under one year old, you should not first give this peanut butter. Because most babies tend to be allergic to peanuts. 

You can give to your child when he is more than 2 years old.Here are some benefits that you can get from consuming peanut butter.

Nutritional content

Peanut butter is a good source of protein, vitamin B, iron, folic acid and fiber. It is high in monounsaturated fats which are good for heart health.

Some peanut butter does contain trans fat, so natural peanut butter that is not made with hydrogenated oil is a healthy choice. 

Two tablespoons of peanut butter contains 28 percent of protein 

RDA for children under 10 years of age.Peanut butter also contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, vitamin E, folate, vitamin B6 and riboflavin which are important for children during the development stage.

Increase the immune system

Peanut butter contains antioxidants that can protect your child from the dangers of free radicals. In addition, the protein content can support the growth and development of the child's body. Protein can also build body muscles so that your child is not susceptible to disease.

Good for brain health

Peanut butter also contains omega-three fatty acids that can help your baby's brain develop. 

Processed peanut butter

Besides being able to be processed into chocolate, peanut butter can also be combined as a complement to bread and biscuits. To be more healthy, you can make whole wheat bread with baked peanut butter plus a cheese sheet, eat with real fruit juice to add fiber at breakfast.

3. Milk and cream.

Milk is a good source of protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients for children. Give children at least 2 glasses of milk per day. The shape can be various. For example, milkshakes, cereals, or smoothies. You can also add a cream made from fresh milk on top of a salad. Besides being tasty, healthy right?

4. Eggs

In 100 grams of eggs there are 13 grams of protein, vitamin A, and B12 which are good for growing children. You can add egged to your daily diet, in a variety of ways.

5. Banana

This one fruits can be a good source of energy for the body. One banana contains 105 calories, you know. Add bananas to your child's favorite foods such as milkshakes, pudding, or mix them with chocolate.

6. Avocados

If your mother is too thin, try giving her an avocado. Avocados contain fat and calories that are good for growing children. This fruit am also a healthier fat source, compared to other foods.

7. Chicken

Protein is very important for building the muscles of the body. Foods that contain protein such as chicken are important for the growth of children. In addition to the price that is cheaper than other types of meat, chicken also has a delicious taste, Bun.

8. Potatoes

Potatoes contain amino acids such as arginine and glutamine, which are good for increasing body weight.

Potatoes are one of the food sources that contain carbohydrates, fiber, and various types of vitamins and minerals. Although not all children like potatoes, many processed potatoes are often served to little ones such as mashed potatoes and fries. With these various nutrients, there are many benefits of potatoes for children. The study, published in the journal Advances in Nutrition, revealed that one potato can provide 8% of the daily value of fiber every day. This value has met the standards set by the Dietery Reference Intake (DRI) or reference for the required nutritional intake. 

In fact, according to this study, vegetables consumed by children are sometimes no enough to meet the need of fiber and potassium. However, not many parents understand that children's nutritional intake has been fulfilled or not. Fiber and potassium are two important elements in the growth, development, and overall health of the child. Fiber is very good for the development of the digestive tract of the child and potassium can maintain bone strength and maintain muscle function. 

The study also showed that children aged 1 to 3 years consumed 67 percent potassium from DRI, and 55 percent of fiber from DRI. In addition, this study also observed the consumption of children in elementary school. 

As a result, vegetables and potatoes are the food most often leave on the plate. According to experts, this happened because there was no habit of eating vegetable since childhood. The carbohydrate contented in potatoes makes it a good source of energy, even for babies. But because of its high caloric content, it is better to give potatoes to children at 7-10 months.

Alkaline sugar content can help reduce acidity in the body. This is important for babies and toddlers, because acid can affect their health. In addition, potatoes can also help prevent intestinal fermentation and help develop good bacteria. Potatoes can also be used to protect the skin, thanks to the content of vitamin C, starch, and enzymes in it. When made juice, the alkaline content has an antiseptic function to fight dead skin. Thus, dead skin cells are easily exfoliated and leave healthy new skin. 

So, make it a habit for your child to eat healthy foods, including potatoes. “Healthy eating habits from childhood will affect the lifestyle of children when they grow up. Vegetables will be part of their eating patterns continuously, “said Theresa A. Nicklas, a nutritionist from Baylor College of Medicine.

9. Red meat

Red meat is a source of iron and fat, which is needed by children in their infancy. Try to choose fresh beef and lamb! If possible, avoid cooking preserved processed meat. Because, such meat usually contain ingredients that are harmful to health.

Red meat that is recommended for toddlers is the fat that has been removed.
Veal meat contains myoglobin around 0.1-0.3%, while adult beef contains around 1.5-2.0%. Compare this with chicken meat, which has less than 0.05% of myoglobin, making it appear white. Not only protein, red meat also contains many nutrients. Anything?

Protein. Every 100 grams of red meat contains 20-25 grams of protein. Protein from beef and goat meat are easier to digest for toddlers' bodies as much as 94%, compared to protein from wheat which is only digested 86% and protein from beans which be only 78%.

Fat. If all the fat that is attached to the surface is removed, red meat actually has relatively lows saturated fat and tran fat so it does not trigger health problems. The cholesterol contained in it does not trigger an increase in cholesterol level in the blood.

Energy. Consumption of 100 grams of red meat can meet 27% of energy needs in a day.

Vitamin D. Red meat is also a source of vitamin D needed to form strong bones and teeth.

Vitamin B complex. Meat contains various types of B vitamins, including riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is needed by toddlers to help work the brain's nervous system, the ability to concentrate and remember.

Iron (Fe). Nutrients forming these blood cell can meet 21% of the body's needs for toddlers. Iron from meat, more easily absorbed by the body of a toddler than from vegetables. This mineral is needed to deliver oxygen, form energy and brain cells.

Omega-3 fatty acids. Red meat ranks second as a source of omega-3 fatty acids, after sea fish. In 150 mg red meat contains around 30 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. This compound is important to help function the heart, central nervous system and liver.

Zinc (Zn). This nutrient is needed by the body of a toddler to form and strengthen the immune system, the process of growth, and accelerates wound healing. Beef contains 4.0 mg / 100 grams of zinc, while calf meat is 4.2 mg / 100 grams.

Selenium. Antioxidant substances that help increase the strength of this toddler's immune system is quite abundant in red meat. Beef contains selenium as much as 17 mg / 100 grams, while calf meat is 10 mg / 100 grams.

Meat may begin to be given two infants aged 7-10 months.

If you do not have molars (molar), you should give them in the form of finely chopped meat, puree or blender, which is mixed in other foods, such as filtered porridge.
If the baby has started eating biscuits or fruit and his teeth have also begun to grow, can be given meat that is cut into small pieces or shredded.
Give red meat in a balance composition with other nutrients, namely 55-60% carbohydrates, 15-20% animal protein (meat and fish) and vegetable, 30% fat with saturated fatty acid content does not exceed 10% of the number of calories in a day.


Various recipes made from meat:
- Ground Meat Corn
- Ground Meat Broccoli Porridge
- Gravy Meat Burger
- Beef Omelette
- Know steamed eggs
- Fried meatballs
- Roasted Broccoli
- Potato Ongklok Meat
- Saute the Teriyaki Sauce Meat
- Sesame Fried Meat.

10. Fruit and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables are mandatory foods on the daily menu. Fruits such as mango, papaya, pineapple, and so on are sources of natural sugar. This will help provide energy and increase body weight.

Speaking of thin children, Dr. Diana F. Suganda, MKes, SpGK reminded, as parents not to judge thin children without seeing scale. Especially comparing our children with others, because it will not be accurate. 

Benefits of eating fruits and vegetables for children

• Nutrition improvement.

The body of the child needs good nutritional intake that they can get from vegetables and fruits that contain lots of vitamins, minerals and other benefits. Acidic fruits such as strawberries are rich in vitamin C which can boost the immune system, carrots are rich in vitamin A, and spinach is a source of ironing that can prevents anemia.

Apples contain 16 kinds of polyphenols which work as antioxidants that are good for health. In essence, eating colorful fruits and vegetables can provide a variety of important nutrients that help keep your child healthy and fit every day.

• Reducing the risk of obesity.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in filling fiber, but low in fat and calories. That's why, start asking your child to choose fruits and vegetables instead of snacks that contain lots of sugar or "junk food" foods, so that your child will avoid the risk of obesity or obesity. Overweight children have the potential to develop various diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, respiratory problems, depression and various other chronic diseases in the future.

• Supporting your child's achievements at school.

Implementing a healthy diet, including eating lots of fruits and vegetables can help your child perform better at school. In fact, research published in the Journal of School Health found that children with poor food quality (lack of vegetable and fruit intake) were known to tend to get poor academic scores compared to those who received vegetable and fruit intake every day. Children who normally consume a healthy menu are 41 percent less likely to have difficulty reading, than other children.

Indeed, there are several factors that influencing children's achievement in school. However, fulfilling nutritional intake is the most important factors that influence achievement for the better.
Tips for adding more fruits and vegetables to your child's menu.

To stay healthy and fit, your child needs a balanced menu that includes vegetable and fruit every day. Many interesting ways to make your children accustomed to eating foods rich in delicious vegetables and fruits. Here is some easy and interesting ways you can do to get your child used to have fruits and vegetables.

• Put the banana or strawberry slice into the cereal
• Add pieces of fruit to yogurt
• Make a smoothie with frozen fruit
• Bring fruit that has been cut into pieces for the child
• Tries a menu of vegetable kebabs for children's dinners
• Add pieces of mushrooms, olives, or carrots in an omelet

Eating fruit directly is better than fruiting that have been juiced, because sometimes fruit juice contains up to 6 teaspoons of added sugar and does not contain good fiber.

Dried fruits like apricots, apples, and dried apples are still rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. But they also contain lots of sugar and can cause toothed decay, because usually these dried fruits are often sticky and stick to the child's teeth. If you give your child dried fruit, give them in small portions, and make sure they drink a glass of water afterwards. Actually, it's better to choose fruits and vegetables that are packed with natural water or juice compared to those already added with sugared or salt.
If you feel your child's weight is lacking, avoid adding a lot of carbohydrates to your baby's diet. That will cause an impact that is not good for his health.

“If the carbo is mostly, then the metabolism can be disrupted. In the body carbohydrates are broken down, for example, into sugar. If excess sugar, triglycerides will become. In this case, muscle mass will not increase,” explained Dr. Diana some time ago.

So, it's better to add your intake of protein and fat to increase your child's weight. Good luck, Mother!

Read Also: 4 Foods that Should Not Be Used as a Children's Breakfast Menu