High Calorie Foods for Kids: Helping your underweight child gain weight

Help your underweight child gain weight with these high calorie foods for kids.

I know how it can feel when the pediatrician tells you your child is underweight. As a parent, it almost feels like you have failed at helping your child grow and thrive.

If you have heard those words in the pediatrician’s office, I am here to tell you: you are an amazing parent! You being here reading this information shows just how much you care about your child.

You want your child to grow, gain weight and thrive. Being willing to help in any way you can to make this happen is an important step in helping your child gain weight.

How do I know if my child is underweight?

First things first- before adding a bunch of calories to your child’s meals and snacks be sure you actually need to be doing this. Sometimes parents are worried about their child’s growth when in actuality, they are growing quite healthy and don’t need any intervention.

To be clinically underweight, a child must be in the bottom 5th percentile for weight compared to height. This is usually what the doctor or dietitian is looking at.

Another sign of concern is if your child is falling below their normal growth curve. Every child tends to follow their own growth pattern. If, for some reason, you or your pediatrician notice your child has dropped below this growth pattern, it warrants further investigation as to why.

If you don’t have a scale at home or your child hasn’t been to the doctor in a while, a sign to look out for is if your child isn’t outgrowing their clothes each season. If they seem to be stuck in the same size clothes for longer than usual and aren’t moving up to the next size as you would expect, it might be a good idea to look a little closer at their growth.

My Toddler Weight Gain Story

When my oldest child was young the pediatrician told me my child was underweight. As a mom this was disheartening to hear. As a registered dietitian my inner pride was hurt.

I was supposed to know how to prevent this. I was supposed to be an expert at feeding and nutrition.

The pediatrician prescribed a liquid oral supplement to help him gain weight. While oral nutrition supplements can be a good option to help kids grow, I know the end goal would be to help my son grow without having to drink a supplement 1-2 times a day.

I did what the doctor said and provided my son these supplements, but knew this wasn’t the only way to help him gain weight. I knew that by calorie “power” packing his foods he would be able to gain weight, too.

Working at a WIC clinic, I have seen children become dependent on supplements to the extent where that is their only nutrition. What started out as a 1-2 cans per day type thing, slowly increased to 3, then 4 and sometimes up to 5 cans a day.

When a child is drinking so much liquid, it’s hard for their tiny tummy to feel hungry for real food. That’s why I always recommend food first, supplement second if necessary.

Fast forward several years and my son is now a strong, healthy, average weight child. It is possible to help your child grow and gain weight through food!

What is Power Packing?

Power packing is also referred to as calorie packing. I often use this term with clients when helping them find ways to add high calorie foods for kids at meals and snacks.

Essentially, it means packing as much calories, or energy, into each bite your child takes.

This is important because often times children who are small tend to not eat very much at a time. Picky eating is not always to blame, though sometimes it does present a hurdle to weight gain.

I might see a child who is willing to try a variety of foods, but they simply don’t eat a lot of it. This is where power packing comes into play. We want each bite they take to be packed with as much calories and nutrients as possible. That way if they only take a few bites, you still know what they did eat was good for them.

Tips for Helping Your Child Eat More

Helping your child eat more food at meals and snack times can be a trial and error process. Even when you found something that works one week, it might not work the next.

However, I use the following tips with my own children, and recommend them to my WIC clients all the time. They seem to help create consistency, familiarity and a positive attitude around food with children.

Create a set schedule for meals and snacks.

Do NOT give your child food in between the scheduled meals and snacks. I know this can be tempting, thinking that any bite your child gets is good. However, we want your child to be hungry at meals and snack times so they will eat the power packed foods you’ve prepared that are higher in calories and nutrients. Grazing will only make things worse.

There will be some days that come up when the schedule needs to be altered, but sticking to the schedule as much as possible is best to help create consistency and routine.

Give your child only water in between meals.

If you choose to offer higher calorie drinks such as milk, juice, or oral supplements, I usually recommend offering those with meals or ideally, after your child has eaten some food. This will prevent your child from filling up on drinks instead of eating power packed food.

Eat meals and snacks with your child.

This way they can see you eating the food you prepared. Your child looks up to you and wants to be like you. If you haven’t noticed, they often do what you do as a result. By you trying new foods and eating the foods you’ve prepared, your child will most likely want to follow your example and try them, too.

Involve your child.

Involve your child in planning meals and snacks. Take them to the grocery store to pick out foods. When you get home, find age appropriate kitchen tasks they can do to help prepare the food. Let them set the table.

All of this brings anticipation and excitement to meals and snack time – hopefully leading your child to eat what is on the menu!

Don’t force them to eat.

I know you are worried about your child gaining weight. However, forcing food into your child only creates resentment and displeasure around food. You want your child to have a positive eating experience.

Your job as parent is to prepare and provide healthy meals and snacks for your child. It is your child’s job to decide if and how much they will eat.

If your child chooses to not eat at one meal, that is fine. They will have the opportunity at the next scheduled meal or snack to eat again. Even if they go an entire day without eating much, you still offered healthy power packed foods on your meal and snack schedule.

Your child will come to learn that they can choose to eat or not, but they can’t eat outside of the schedule, and eventually they will be hungry enough to try the food you’ve prepared.

Make food fun.

Offer colorful foods to make meals and snacks more appetizing. Serving food in fun ways can make eating a lot more fun, too. It doesn’t have to be complicated or a big production. Simply arranging pancakes and banana slices to make a smiley face can make all the difference!

High Calorie Foods for Kids

While there are a LOT of high calorie foods out there, we not only want our child to gain weight, but be healthy in the process. For example, cookies, potato chips and chocolate are high in calories, but not necessarily high in beneficial nutrients.

My definition of power packing involves both high calories and good-for-you nutrition.

Below is a list of healthy high calorie foods for kids to help your child gain weight. Some of these are especially great when paired together, which I give examples of further down.

Avocado
Olives
Olive oil
Avocado oil
Peanut butter
Almond butter
Whole fat milk
Whole fat Greek yogurt
Whole fat cottage cheese
Salmon
Tuna fish
Beef
Chicken
Turkey
Chia seeds
Flax seed
Cheese
Eggs
Beans
Dried fruit
Bananas
Oats

*Note that I didn’t list whole nuts on here, mainly because they are a choking hazard for young children. If you feel your child is a little bit older and can safely chew and eat whole nuts, these can also be included as a healthy source of high calorie foods for kids.

Power Packed Meal and Snack Ideas for Kids

Snack Ideas

Banana or apple slices with peanut or almond butter.
Avocado slices, by themselves or on top of toast.
String cheese and crackers.
Veggie sticks (carrots, broccoli, celery, cauliflower) and olives with ranch or homemade full fat sour cream dip.
Whole fat cottage cheese with berries.
Dried fruit or fruit leather.
Homemade banana bread, pumpkin bread, or zucchini bread made with oil or butter, topped with nut butter.
Hummus with whole grain chips, crackers, pita wedges, or sliced vegetables.
Homemade muffins made with nut butter, olive oil or canola oil, flax or chia seeds, dried fruit, oats, and/or whole fat milk (these blender banana nut muffins are great).
Dessert style hummus with pretzels, fresh fruit or graham crackers.
Homemade energy bites (like these peanut butter energy bites or chocolate banana nut energy bites).
Homemade “nice cream” sandwiches.

Breakfast Ideas

Smoothies made with whole fat dairy, chia or flax seeds, oats, nut butters and fresh fruit and/or vegetables (like this peanut butter banana oatmeal smoothie).
Parfait made with dried fruit, granola and whole fat Greek yogurt.
Pancakes or waffles made with whole fat milk, flax seed and topped with nut butter (give these peanut butter protein pancakes a try).
French toast made with eggs, whole fat milk and topped with nut butter.
Scrambled eggs cooked in olive oil, made with a splash of whole fat milk, topped with cheese.
Oatmeal made with whole fat milk, nut butters, flax or chia seeds, and dried or fresh fruit mixed in.
Cereal made with whole fat milk.

Lunch or Dinner Ideas

Sauteed or roasted vegetables made with olive or avocado oil, topped with cheese.
Homemade breaded chicken or fish sticks – dip in sauce of choice after they’re baked.
Meatballs made with ground beef or turkey, cheese and bread crumbs.
Grilled cheese sandwich made with butter.
Add powdered milk to soups, or make cream based soups.
Tuna cheese melts.
Baked or mashed potatoes with whole fat sour cream and shredded cheese.
Add shredded cheese into sauces, rice, and pasta.
Add extra slices of cheese onto sandwiches.
Make refried beans or refried lentils with olive or avocado oil and top with cheese.
Add olive or canola oil to soups, rice, or pasta, and top with cheese.
Quesadillas made with cheese, roasted veggies, or beans.

Hopefully this list gives you some ideas of how to help your child gain weight. If you have other ideas of high calorie foods for kids or tips for parents struggling to help their child gain weight, let us know down in the comments!

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Brittany

I'm a registered dietitian nutritionist and mom of four with a passion of helping families build confidence in the kitchen. I share family friendly recipes and helpful tips to help you navigate mealtime one bite at a time.