my 4 year old daughter is underweight , what do i do?

Answer 1

get her to the Doctor for some possible blood-work to find out if there is an issue or not. I have a cousin who was always thin as a child, now healthy, but he's a diabetic. I'd be able to answer your question with more detail, but don't really know about her eating habits. Is she starving herself or eating well? Also can't tell whether she is active or not....hope it turns to be nothing serious.

Answer 2

There are a lot of things to consider before you worry about this. Here are a couple:

When you take her to the Doctor and they chart her weight/height is she following her own curve (one that is underweight but remains parallel to the curves on the chart) or has there been a big drop in her weight?

Is she and active and energetic kid? Does she have the energy to play on a playground for a similar amount of time as other kids or is she tired before they are?

If she's still on a consistent curve on the weight chart and she has enough energy to do the normal 'kid' things then you shouldn't worry.

Just provide her with three healthy meals and two snacks in between and no comments about what or how much she eats. Believe it or not kids will forgo food if it gets them lots of attention. Sit down as a family to eat, limit mealtimes to half an hour and clean up any food after that. Don't comment on the amounts she eats, she should be eating because she's hungry, not to please you. If she doesn't eat don't sweat it, she'll eat at the next meal.

However if you've noticed a big change in her rate of growth or her energy you need to get her to a Doctor and find out what's up.

Answer 3

Underweight according to the doctor? Don't make food an issue, first off. I've seen too many parents try to force food on thier kids and it backfires. It makes food a battle for control. Could it be that this is what is going on? Try to make food as much fun as possible. Buy a Marthat Stuart magazine they have lots of cute ideas for making food fun. Make sure it isn't health related, for example, she may have an upset stomach. Some kids are more high strung than others and they get stressed easily which in turn upsets the stomach. Try offering foods that are more easily digested if you think this may be a factor. Make mealtimes family oriented and predictable. You should sit down with her at a specific time each day, at the table, no TV, and eat together. Also, your model is important to teaching her good eating habits. Eat with her. If you are eating on the run you aren't showing her that eating is an important part of life.

Answer 4

the question is why is she underweight? b/c she dont eat right, only wants to eat junk, or a picky~Nicki? Also Id check with her doctor if he thinks she is just naturally tiny, as I was I looked terrifiyingly skinny but was healthy. if she only likes certain things than figure out what shell eat that is best health wise for her, and enhance some of the nutriional part of it. like if she'll eat french toast with syrup than make it whole wheat or a honey wheat bread and soak a full egg into the bread, since she can probably only eat 1pc. But that way she is getting a full serving of protein and breads in just breakfast, top that off with a full glass of 2% or whole milk and you've got a good part of her food pyramid already. As long as she is getting all or her food groups and a good amount of veggies, etc you shouldnt worrry about it. Also a good thing to do might be to let her snack whenever she mentions she wants to eat, but good things like carrots and dip or apples and peanut butter or some graham crackers and animal crackers arent really bad if she insists on sweets. But aslong as she isnt filling up on candy and crappy food and the dr says she is healthy even if tiny, than I wouldnt worry. Im still very tiny as an adult (Im tall but skinny~mini) and Im quite healthy with a great apetite, each person is just different.

Answer 5

How much underweight is she? Does she eat healthy? Some children just don't gain a whole lot. My nephew has always been very skinny for his height but other than that seems to be healthy. He eats quite a bit and growing taller but can't seem to fatten up any. Some people have made comments about him being to skinny but both of his parents are skinny also. So it could be genetics. If your worried about it take her to a doctor not a health department but a family doctor and he/she should be able to tell you if you need to be worried about her weight.

Answer 6

Take her to see a doctor or nurse if its worrying you, best to be checked out. Some little girls do look quite skinny, but can often be nothing to worry about. Start feeding her more carbohydrates and fats, build her up a bit, or instead of three meals a day try four meals.
One of my nephews was a poorly child and never liked to eat loads at one sitting so they used to have smaller meals but more often(i think they had 4 or 5 small meals a day of good healthy food), he actually ate more like that.

Answer 7

My little brother, David, who is almost 4, weighs about 35 Pounds. The BMI says he is underweight and so does his doctor, but the doctor also said that he is healthy. As long as your daughter is getting enought vitamins and nutrients, then she should be good to go.

Answer 8

Add more pastas/potatoes, etc to her diet. Kids like mac & cheese for example -- make it a side dish for her -- she still needs her vegis, fruits & proteins. Unless your daughter is VERY underweight to where the doctors are concerned, don't worry too much. My daughter (and her daughters) were very skinny and they all had good food. Some little girls are just that way.

Answer 9

It depends if she is medically underweight or if you just think she is. My daughter (now in late teens) was always small - though not short. She is healthy and seems to have settled into a UK size 6-8. She was always tiny I thought from day one but she does not have that "hungry" look that underweight people tend to.

Answer 10

not alot you can do at 4years old. Just aslong as you make sure she one decent meal and fluids through the day she will be ok. Kids are picky eaters so i would imagine this makes things difficult but ive got a 5 year old daughter and if she doesnt eat her tea I say fine but you wont get anything else, now she abit better because she knows i mean it