Answer: Hi There,
Well I guess there are two things, first and foremost and I think you have ‘hit the nail on the head’ as your hubby is slim then your son may just be heading to his genetically predetermined weight, even more likely if he has always been fairly slight. Next, putting weight on a little one can be tricky, they are often just far too busy to be interested in food and they have such little tummies it doesn’t take much to fill them up, so what you do give them becomes important.

As I get asked about this reasonably regularly, I did a tip sheet for Huggies members about ‘underweight’ children, it’s on my site, the link is www.cadenchealth.com.au/babyandchild.htm – its about half way down the page. It goes into detail about this topic and how you can approach it. Let me know if you have any difficulties downloading it and I can email it to you.

Personally I think it most ideal to look toward protein and healthy fats, so you have to watch for excessive carbohydrates and instead check that there is protein in every main meal, so yoghurt or ground nuts and seeds in brekky, egg in lunch, meat in dinner and so on. Protein will assist with muscle which then increases body mass and weight. Childrens protein drinks can be useful such as Kids Meta Meal by Metagenics, or even just a very healthy smoothie each night with added ground nuts and seeds and natural yoghurt and even a little icecream (the latter might be a good starting point and then see how you go).

So I hope some of this helps, remember as they say ‘you can’t fatten a thoroughbred’… so if none of this works it strengthens the argument of genetics.

Cheery Oh,
Leanne