Is Your Child Really Underweight?

Weight gain is a universal concern. All parents want their kids to be healthy and an appropriate weight is very reassuring to most parents because  this means that their kid is growing & developing in a healthy way. However there are many misconceptions in the society regarding weight of infants and toddlers.  Concerns about childhood weight gain are a very common cause of consultation in my GROWTH CLINIC  

Are You Worried?

If you are worried that there is something abnormal and your child is not gaining weight, stop thinking and  first evaluate whether  in reality the weight is less or not.Many parents don't realise that the ideal weight is not a single number. All kids are not the same, hence the normal weight is a range. If the child is falling anywhere in between the range, the child is normal!!

In further doubtful cases , for a thorough evaluation only weight doesn’t give the complete picture and other parameters like weight for height have to be assessed that can be done by a Growth Specialist( Pediatric Endocrinologist)

So is your Child REALLY underweight?

If your child actually falls in the underweight category, evaluation is needed. In a child who is otherwise not having any medical problems and doesn’t need medications very often, the underweight situation is usually due to a lack of adequate calorie intake. Ensuring adequate food intake is the first step and often the only step needed to bring your child in the normal weight bracket for his/her age.

I shall discuss the common issues in young child feeding and the common problems parents face while feeding tiny tots in subsequent blog posts. So watch this space.

In case you have any specific worries and queries, please feel free to write in the comments section. We ll try to address them.