All parents want their children to gain healthy weight. However, not all parents know how to properly and healthy weight gain for their children. The key to perfect child development is a varied, healthy and balanced diet.
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HOW TO HELP CHILDREN GAIN WEIGHT?
Metabolism plays an important role in the weight gain of children. If your child is active and healthy, he or she will soon reach the standard weight range.
Mom can make a food diary for her baby, record the foods she likes to eat, doesn’t like to eat, foods she is allergic to to easily prepare a weekly menu for her baby. Here are some ways to help your baby gain weight better:
- Make sure your child gets enough exercise and physical activity to stimulate hunger and appetite.
- Feed your baby a healthy, varied, and balanced diet that doesn’t just focus on helping him gain weight.
- As children get older, introduce them to sports like swimming, cycling, etc. After playing those sports, the baby will eat better and develop a better physique.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO FEED CHILDREN A HEALTHY DIET?
The first years of life are important for building healthy eating habits in children. Introducing your child to healthy eating habits at an early age has the potential to create lifelong habits for them. At that time, the baby will be less likely to ask for unhealthy foods and will be easier to eat when traveling with the family. Children’s habit of eating junk food is often created by parents during this period.
In addition to eating healthy, make sure your child gets enough play and activity time in the sun. This will help strengthen the immune system and keep your baby healthy.
1. CHILDREN FROM 0 TO 12 MONTHS
The newborn period is the period when the baby grows fastest. Your baby will increase in height and weight every month. At this time, make sure your baby eats, sleeps, and has regular immunizations. Breast milk is the best food for babies under 6 months old. You can then introduce your baby to other foods in liquid or solid form, but breastfeeding should continue for that period. Between 4-6 months of age, your baby’s ideal weight should be twice your birth weight.
2. CHILDREN FROM 12 TO 36 MONTHS
This is a period with a lot of development, not only in terms of activity but also in emotional and social awareness. Your baby is beginning to explore the world and will be exposed to many other babies in daily activities. Previously established habits are easy to change. Your baby’s weight will also fluctuate based on many different factors, including emotional factors such as anxiety when separated from parents, going to school in a new environment, changing eating habits, etc.
3. CHILDREN FROM 4 TO 6 YEARS OLD
A child’s development at this age will have lifelong effects. The learning time and activities of the preschool age need a lot of calories. Therefore, it is necessary to provide children with a variety of nutritious foods. The average baby will gain about 2kg per year.
4. CHILDREN FROM 7 TO 12 YEARS OLD
As your child transitions from kindergarten to adolescence, his nutritional needs will increase and he or she will gain up to 3 kg of weight per year. At this age, your baby will eat the same food as the rest of the family.
BEST FOODS TO GAIN WEIGHT FOR CHILDREN
Here are the best healthy foods to help babies and babies gain weight:
1. BREASTMILK
Newborns should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months after birth. This is a very nutritious food, easy to digest and also helps strengthen the baby’s immune system. Breastfeeding is also a great way to increase the bond between mother and baby. Signs that the baby has had enough milk are: the baby is functioning normally, is healthy, has no symptoms of allergies and has a bowel movement 4-6 times, urinating 6-8 times a day.
After 6 months of age, the mother can introduce the baby to solid foods, at first, the mother should introduce foods from liquid and then gradually increase the consistency and coarseness for the baby.
2. BANANA
Bananas are rich in potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and carbohydrates. This fruit provides very high calories and is a good source of food to help babies gain weight.
There are many ways to prepare bananas: blender or mashed to make cakes. When taking your baby to travel, you can bring bananas as a very convenient snack for your baby.
3. SWEET POTATO
This is a very tasty, nutritious, easy-to-digest food. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, etc.
Sweet potatoes also provide a very large amount of fiber, which is useful for the baby’s digestive system. Common ways of processing sweet potatoes such as boiling, baking, mashing to make soup, making sweet potato cakes, etc.
4. BEANS
Legumes are rich in protein, magnesium, calcium, iron, fiber and potassium. After your baby is 6 months old, you can introduce foods made with beans such as soup or porridge with rice and vegetables.
When your baby is about 7-9 months old, you can introduce him to foods with a coarser texture. At this stage, the mother can give the baby powdered cereal. The method is very simple: wash the beans and some nuts such as walnuts, almonds, … Then dry, roast and grind. When using, you just need to mix a few spoons of this powder with water and you have a very nutritious snack.
5. RAGI SEEDS
This is a perfect superfood for baby’s weight gain and development. It is rich in fiber, calcium, iron, protein and many other vitamins and minerals.
Ragi seeds are very easy to digest, you can cook with porridge, tea and grind with cereals or add to cakes if your child has eaten raw well.
6. CHEESE
Butter has high nutritional value. You should introduce avocado to your baby when he is 8 months old. You can add a few drops of butter to your baby’s porridge or soup.
Butter can be made from fresh cream if you are worried about the avocado products on the market. This is a great food to help your baby gain healthy weight. However, if your baby eats too much avocado, he or she may have digestive problems.
When your baby is 8-10 months old, you can give your baby the following foods to promote weight gain.
7. DIARY PRODUCTS
Yogurt provides a good amount of fat and is very nutritious to help your baby gain healthy weight.
Yogurt also helps improve digestion, boosts immunity and is good for babies if they have stomach problems. You can add flavor to traditional yogurt by adding a fruit smoothie or fresh cut berries mixed with yogurt.
Cheese should be introduced after the baby is 12 months old or when the pediatrician allows.
Cow’s milk should be introduced to children over 1 year of age. Children need to drink at least 2 glasses of milk a day to ensure growth until they reach adolescence. You can change the taste of milk by adding dried fruit or fruit syrup to the milk.
However, you should not give your baby too much milk and dairy products because it can be harmful to the baby’s digestive tract. In case your baby has lactose intolerance, or has stomach problems after eating dairy products, take your baby to the doctor and follow the instructions from the doctor.
8. EGGS
Eggs should be introduced to children when they are 12 months old. Eggs are rich in saturated fat, protein, vitamins and minerals. Mom can make many delicious dishes from eggs for babies such as omelettes, boiled eggs, steamed eggs, etc.
However, it is advisable to test for egg allergies in children and buy eggs from guaranteed farms to avoid problems that are not good for your baby’s health.
9. NUTS AND FRIED FRUITS
Almonds, walnuts, apricots, cashews, raisins and sesame, pumpkin, flaxseed, and more all provide the best vitamins to help kids gain weight. They can be added to food in many ways. Mothers can grind flour to add to milk or sprinkle on porridge, make cereal flour.
Peanut butter or almond milk are great options to help increase your baby’s health and weight.
10. ADVOCADO
Avocado is a fruit that is rich in vitamins B6, E, C, K, copper folate, fiber, pantothenic acid, and also has a high amount of fat, which is good for children’s physical and brain development.
11. CHICKEN
Chicken is rich in easily digestible protein, which helps kids build muscle to reach a healthy weight. Moreover, chicken is a very popular food, easy to buy, easy to prepare many delicious dishes for babies.
12. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Fruits and vegetables are rich in natural sugars and essential vitamins and minerals that help build the immune system. Fruits and vegetables are essential in every child’s daily diet.
HOW TO GET KIDS TO EAT HEALTHILY
Children’s eating habits are created by parents. If parents often eat junk food, children will surely learn that habit too.
How to help your baby have a healthy diet?
- Prepare beautiful meals for your baby: decorate with colorful vegetables and foods to make the meal more attractive and interesting for your baby.
- There are times when the child refuses to eat, should not force or get angry. Give your baby enough time to eat, then put the meal away and wait until the next meal time to feed him again.
- Monitor your baby’s allergies, which may include nut allergies, gluten, fish or lactose intolerance. When the baby has an allergy, do not give the baby any medicine, take him to the doctor immediately.
- Set a fixed mealtime depending on your baby’s developmental stage. Do not give your baby snacks between meals.
- Do not give your baby too much food at each feeding.
- When travelling parents should prepare food for their baby’s snack such as fruit and milk to avoid giving them too many sweet or unhygienic food.
- When your child has enough awareness, let him choose food for meals and help you cook. Children will enjoy eating more when they can choose and help prepare meals.
- Remember that maintaining healthy eating habits in children in children is more important than helping them gain weight. If your baby has a healthy diet, he’s sure to reach his standard weight gain. In case your kids face with the malnutrition, you can refer this article to help them gain weight fast in 3 months.
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