Weight Gain Diet: High Calorie Foods are Key!The most important thing to remember in a weight gain diet is to choose mainly high calorie foods. In order to gain weight, your child must consume more calories than he is burning. Many parents complain they give their child many more calories then they’ve been told their children need but they still don’t gain weight.Regardless of his actual needs verses intake, the actual number of calories your child needs must be greater than what he’s consuming, and once he begins eating more than he needs he will begin gaining weight. The diet is usually high in fat because contains 9 calories per gram vs. 4 calories per gram in carbohydrates and protein. Therefore, in order to get the most calories in the smallest volume, foods higher in fat are the fastest, most reliable way to get your little one to gain weight. It also helps to use calorie boosters while your child is on the weight gain diet. Things like dried milk powder, cheese, eggs and butter can add a significant amount of calories without adding volume. These are great for kids who cannot tolerate large portions or take a very long time to eat. Healthy high calorie foods including dried fruit, olive oil and avocado can all promote weight gain. These are great foods to eat often since they are not high in saturated or Trans fat. If your child will eat these, they should be the focus of your goal of helping your little one gain weight. Most children also benefit from a pediatric nutrition supplement or high calorie smoothie between meals. Most supplements and smoothies contain 250 to 450 calories per serving and make a great snack for children who need to gain weight. It takes a different amount of calories for each child to gain weight, and much of it depends on age and current weight, which is where the generic RDA calorie needs come from. Because of this, goal calorie intake needs to be individualized. Despite this, one way to begin a weight gain diet is to calculate how many calories your child is getting now and add 20%. From there you can slowly increase as your child can tolerate and accept it, until your child begins to gain weight. If you need help figuring out how many calories your child is receiving now, order a mini nutrition assessment or diet analysis from us. This will give you a baseline so you know where you are starting and can begin to create your own diet conducive to weight gain.
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"I just want to say: Although the sudden plunge into no Vital Jr and no baby formula was cold turkey and not easy and super scary for me, a month later, I can say that my son looks really, really good physically, is now maintaining weight, and obviously feels a little more light and happy in his physical actions. Regardless of whether the GFCF diet will end up being necessary, I am thrilled beyond words that he eats REAL FOOD, not chemicals. The lighter, more frequent meals make me feel like I am finally not causing GERD and constipation faster than I can medicate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help! I truly could not have done it without your help. And I feel confident that with continued tweaking with you his diet can get in more calories and complete nutrition, which makes me feel so good as a mother (especially of a chronically malnourished child, even in utero) that I am finally actually nourishing my child." See more testimonials.
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