At wits end over underweight ADHD kid
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Anonymous
| At age 12 DD weights all of 55 pounds. (She is also short for her age: 4' 5"). I have no idea what to do. If I thought it was the meds I'd cut the meds, but she takes no meds on weekends or holidays and shows no increase in appetite. I already make high calorie meals and encourage a lo t of high calorie snacking; DD can't see what the fuss is about and says she ) often isn't hungry, b) doesn't like 98 percent of the foods in the universe, and c) "gets distracted" and forgets to keep taking bites even when she is hungry. I give her boost + twice daily; she hates it but drinks it. N sign of any eating disorder-- she is otherwise a happy and energetic kid, has not yet hit puberty but seems thrilled by the idea of someday looking like a teenager. So I don't think this is fear of puberty or body image stuff. Any ideas? Tearing my hair out. |
Anonymous
| Are her MDs concerned with her growth or fearful she won't develop? If not, let it be. I was super skinny and hated most all foods and I lived. If not an immediate medical issue, just leave it. |
Anonymous
+1. If there are no health issues other than being underweight, let her be. Don't make it an issue. |
Anonymous
| I would go to a feeding clinic to get advice. We go to the Children's Hospital Feeding clinic. |
Anonymous
| OP isn't that like the 30th-ish percentile? Why do you think this is an issue |
Anonymous
Its less than the 3 percentile. |
Anonymous
|
OP here. She is under 5th percentile for height and under the 1st percentile for weight! Medical opinion is divided... her pediatrician takes the view that there's nothing much to worry about, but she did send us to an endocrinologist to rule out any growth hormone problems. The endocrinologist found nothing wrong with her medically but was very freaked by her low BMI and says she must have an eating disorder. We (and her pediatrician) think that this is just silly -- she is not anorexic or bulimic, she's just a picky kid who has had a very minimal appetite her whole life.
That being said, the endocrinologist completely terrified us by saying that she is at risk for delayed puberty, no menses, etc. etc. The pediatrician, meanwhile, remains fairly nonchalant. I don't want to GIVE the poor kid an eating disorder by turning food into a huge issue-- but I also on't want to do her a disservice by ignoring something that could genuinely cause her problems.... argh |
Anonymous
|
you can still have eating issues linked to food textures, feeling full, control etc. and not be anorexic or bulimic at all. I used to be both and my eating issues started as a child. I did end up with pretty much every eating disorder. I was the kid that didn't eat finish ice cream b/c I was full or just didn't want it at 5 or 10 years old.
Even if your daughter isn't not eating on purpose, you still need to at least help her develop a better relationship with food. My advice (again experience), is to at least find certain things she will eat and snack on. She may like to graze (10 almonds at a time or a tablespoon of peanut butter) or she may do better with a schedule, something for breakfast (anything), lunch (again something), etc. for the day. Unhealthy relationships with food/eating even if they don't start as typical eating disorders can very easily become one later on. In fact, almost all the people I know that developed full blown eating disorders or lifelong struggles with food had eating issues as a kid. I guess my point is, focus less on the weight and more on finding ways to just get her eating more in general a little more normally. If she's drinking ensure/boost etc. try experimenting more with homemade shakes you can really change the taste of or sneak more things into. |
Anonymous
| any good ideas of high calorie/high protein snacks? Nuts... anything else? |
Anonymous
|
Hi OP, I'm the PP that wrote about my experience from being a picky child to then eating disorder.
What are things she likes now? Will she eat pizza or anything like that? Most things can be made a little more healthy if you find foods she likes. Do single ingredient things work? Like a baked potato with just butter? if she likes chicken nuggets make my your own that are pretty healthy and freeze them. then she's not getting mcdonalds or super processed crap, but she'd get something healthy. what about making muffins or bars you can sneak in extra protein with grains and nuts. you can make healthy baked stuff from scratch, avoiding sugar, but add in maybe chocolate chips or something just to add a little something for flavor. you may get more ideas here if you list what she'll eat now. |
Anonymous
| Take her off meds in summer and see what happens. |
Anonymous
| She already goes off meds in summer. Makes no difference. Appetite is tiny either way. She eats pizza but only from one pizza place. She eats French toast but only sometimes. She eats potato chips but only cape cod potato chips. Etc. |
Anonymous
|
Medical marijuana?
Not kidding. Talk to the ped. |
Anonymous
How is this NOT an eating disorder? She sounds exactly like my friend from high school who had a TERRIBLE eating disorder. You need to have her seen for this. |
Anonymous
|
Did she stay on the same arc from birth on the weight/height chart or did she fall/flat line.
What foods does she like. We are doing boost, ice cream every night, butter in every single thing we serve, high calorie high fat yogurt, full fat organic chocolate milk, Chipotle, Chinese, cheese (real cheese like havarti), My son flatlined for 3 years but gained 5 lbs (yipee) from 13-14. |