Foods That Pack a punch....follow up with Endocrinologist from Previous Question

Please - just - don't go this route.
She'll grow at her own pace.
Weight does not equal height - and the eating habits she's forming now will impact her big time by the time she hits her late 20's.
Calorie rich = fat + sugar (nobody needs more of THAT).
Go for protein - eggs, lean meats, beans/lentils.

Being short is not necessarily a bad thing.
I've known beautiful, smart, high impact, intelligent women that were no more than 5 feet tall.
My best friends mom was 4ft11in and she (her mom) had 7 kids - my friend is barely over 5 ft tall.
Good things come in small packages.

I didn't respond the other day, because I didn't have experience with an endocrinologist, and that's what you were specifically asking about.

However, I was always the smallest in my class up until around 8th grade. I was a tiny baby even though my mom delivered me full term. So for me, being small was normal.

It affected my development a bit. I hit puberty after most of my friends. So when you said your daughter was shaped like a young girl, I get that.

I was given Boost (I think that's the name) which is a drink that comes in flavors like chocolate, etc. Or at least it used to.

Here's the thinking behind it. I was eating absolutely fine - and rather than get me all weirded out about thinking about calories and foods, they just let me eat what I did, and I had a Boost on top of it. It was packed with nutrients, vitamins, protein and calories.

So I drank it kind of mid way between meals, with a snack. I liked them, so it wasn't an issue.

I may have already told you about this. Not sure. Anyhow, by the end of high school, I was small to average size. But definitely not the smallest in my classes.

3 out of 4 of my kids were way under the curve and 2 of my grandchildren are too. You have to remember that those percentages come from real children so some children will be on the tiny side.

In your daughter's case I think you need to focus on giving her the building blocks of good health instead of worrying about fattening her up. Concentrate on good quality protein (meat, beans, lentils) and a variety of fruit and veggies. Humus with cut up carrot sticks, anything in a wrap, add avocado to things, greek yogurt, etc. Don't look at it as fattening her up. Look at it as giving her the things her body needs to grow.

As a mom to chronically underweight kids (both "naturally" and due to medications), I understand that when a doctor tells you your kid needs to gain weight, it is not the same as just deciding to feed your kid fatty foods :)

I didn't want to ingrain bad habits with my kids so I didn't want to "force" more food on them - when they are full, they are full. Instead, I switched everything they already ate to higher calorie choices - like whole milk, using butter instead of margarine, etc. I also tended to kind of sneak stuff into their diet like avocados and protein loaded foods. Then I added a Boost drink at bedtime so it didn't replace a meal, but rather added to the consumption of calories for the day. I did also bump up our weekly dessert to 2 times a week, which now that I don't have anyone underweight, we just choose a lower calorie dessert for that 2nd one (no one wanted to give that up so we kept it)! I would definitely stay away from fast food and or non-healthy calorie laden foods. They never create good, healthy weight.

Good luck!

Healthy carbs with a protein would probably give you the most bang for your buck.
Whole grain toast with peanut butter (natural) and sliced bananas or make that same kind of sandwich. Whole grain peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Whole grain English muffins with strawberry cream cheese. A bowl of Kashi cereal with whole milk. Whole milk Greek yogurt.

I have the opposite issue myself. The endocrinologist has told me to lay off starchy items, so perhaps you should do the opposite with your daughter. Things like beans and legumes are off-limits to me, as are peas, corn, grains, cereals, most fruits and wheat. All of these things are usually considered "healthy" unless you have issues with insulin like I do (insulin-resistant PCOS). Since your daughter obviously does not have these issues and you want to feed her healthy things that will help her gain weight rather than feeding her junk, why not try that? You could also ask the endocrinologist for food items he may recommend. Once you have an actual list of items that will encourage growth, you can look up recipes online.

Honestly, HE should be giving you a diet plan to follow, not leaving you in the dark like this! I have had a few endocrinologists through the years, and they all gave me dietary advice, but my new endocrinologist actually gave me a booklet with food items to avoid, and the carb amounts in each fruit, vegetable, dairy product, etc. that people consume. She sat with me and helped me plan a daily diet that included exercise and healthy choices and portions -- a complete, permanent lifestyle change. I would ask the endocrinologist to do something like this for you as well, unless she is just a late bloomer and he thinks her weight will catch up soon. When puberty strikes, most kids will gain weight.

I would stick with the foods you usually make, and that she eats already, but make sure they are made with the healthiest ingredients. For example, not too much premade processed food. Foods with milk as an ingredient can be made with whole milk. Yogurt can be organic and made with whole milk instead of low-fat (Stonyfield makes a good one that is in most grocery stores). Avacados are a great healthy food with healthy fats. So tacos and burritos can come with fresh guacamole either on them or as a side. Sandwiches can have sliced avacados on them.

You say she likes chicken fast food. You can make "chicken nuggets" using real chicken chunks dipped in milk and breaded and baking them or cooking them in a skillet with olive oil. Once she likes the homemade version, then have her try different dipping sauces (this is how I eased my kids into all sorts of Chinese dishes - I put the sauce on the side and let them try it as a dipping sauce. If they didn't like the sauce, they could eat the chicken plain.).

I would be careful of trying to get her to gain weight by increasing how much she eats (ignoring her natural body signals) or by adding calorie-rich/nutrition-poor foods like fast food. You don't want her to pick up bad eating habits that will stick with her and lead to her ending up overweight when she's an adult.

avocado, beans. a good dish around here is rice or quinoa with beans in it. tortillas dipped in mashed avocados and lime juice...
if she likes bean burritoes then let her eat those. protien shakes and brotein bars are also good. i still add cheese to as much stuff as i can since the kids were 12 months old.. dr recommended it because they were low on the weight curve.

Regardless of whether a child needs more calories, it's helpful to make sure that the food the child is eating is made from good ingredients and real foods. For example: tacos. Many people make them at home by starting with real meat or chicken, and then they dump taco seasoning on it from a packet. The ingredients contain several different kinds of sugars. A homemade taco seasoning that tastes nearly identical to the packaged stuff but is only made with real spices is easy to make, and recipes are available online. Same thing for taco sauce: skip the bottled stuff and make a fresh salsa (chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, whatever you like) and you'll eliminate all those sugars and junk processed ingredients.

My dd loves Panko chicken nuggets: just chicken breast meat cut into bite-sized pieces, dipped in milk, then Panko bread crumbs seasoned with a little salt and cumin, and browned briefly in a skillet. Pop them, once they're quickly golden brown, into the oven for about 15 minutes and they're delicious.

Wraps are great on-the-go and can be filled with beans, chicken and healthy seasonings. A sectioned plastic lunch box with chunks of real cheese, natural deli meats without nitrates and nitrites, raisins and nuts can be a great snack. Make breakfast cookies (lots of recipes online) that are healthy, filling, bite-size chunks of oats, fruits, nuts. You can look up recipes that specifically are egg-free. Drain-free packets of tuna and some whole grain crackers make a quick easy snack. Learn to make your own ranch dressing (lots of "copy cat" recipes online, so you can control the sugars and artificial ingredients), and serve ranch dip with baby carrots.

Keep foods small. Have bowls of grapes and strawberries available, and things like Baby Bel cheeses, available at hand in the fridge, washed and ready to grab.

Read labels, and educate yourself about the grocery store foods and fast food ingredients. Choose real foods that don't contain sugars. Learn all the words for sugar (dextrose, erythritol, sorbitol, Splenda, anything that ends in -ose, for example), and eliminate those and things that say "sugar free" (they usually contain artificial sugars. Learn to use raw natural honey and pure maple syrup for sweetening things when necessary. Don't use processed sweeteners like agave nectar and stevia (the real stevia plant is ok, but anything on the grocery store shelf is likely highly chemically processed).

Don't use things from boxes and mixes and packets, because they're packed with fillers, and your daughter will miss out on the real foods.

My daughter was a little underweight for her age and height. We make shakes at home instead of products like Boost (not that it's a bad product, but that it was pricey and the bonus was I could control the ingredients). Just google "calorie rich shakes for kids" and you'll find a ton of recipes. I definitely agree that after dinner before bedtime is the best time to give it to her. We also switch around her breakfast - fried rice with a protein, leftovers from dinner, potato and egg patties, chicken noodle soup - so she doesn't get bored with the food, we found she eats less if it's the same every morning. It's worth the effort, and she has a say in it. I also agree than adding butter and olive oil to her food is helpful. We only keep whole milk in the house, and I rarely say no when she wants a hamburger :)
The key is to make sure she understands that it's a health issue, not that she's "too thin", as if something is wrong with her, this is the age when body issues can rear their ugly heads. And make sure she is drinking enough throughout the day, this is very important.
Good luck :)

You might want to try a whey protein shake. I just throw everything into the blender with some ice. A scoop of whey protein (unflavored), sugar to taste, milk or yogurt, and a few oreo cookies. If it's too thick you can add a little water.
You could also substitute some fruit for the cookies.

You could try to make protein powder shakes in flavors she likes. Chicken is great and you can make nuggets at home. Bean burritos and tacos are great, and you can use whole grain tortillas as well. Add cheese if she will eat it. Whole milk yogurt is delicious. Try whole grain toast and nut butters. Use full fat things like butter or sour cream. I would not try to alter her eating habits too much and create food issues. If she eats little, just make it pack more of a punch. Be sure she still has room for fruits and veggies as well.

The doc wants her to have more calories to boost her metabolism? Is that it?