My daughter has always been very thin and her BMI hasn’t even been the 1st percentile. Her pedi is unconcerned. My husband and I were thin kids and she is growing tall and seems very healthy. Some kids are just thin. I don’t really restrict food in any way, but neither do I push it.

Anonymous wrote:The word "militant" shouldn't be anywhere in your vocabulary when speaking about your child's (your DAUGHTER'S) eating habits. This is how your breed disorder.

By militant I mean I (and DH) offer junk food in moderation, unlike some of the adults in her life who literally bought a dozen donuts and expected her to eat them all.

The word "militant" shouldn't be anywhere in your vocabulary when speaking about your child's (your DAUGHTER'S) eating habits. This is how your breed disorder.

Anonymous wrote:That seems very odd. If she is continuing to grow, and is not malnourished, which I assume she is not, if she is growing, I think you should let her be. 2 is the age where many food issues can begin with control and whatnot. I suggest getting a second opinion. Maybe her build is just always going to be long and slender.

OP here. Thanks, yeah that's why I'm curious BMI. Not because I want to restrict fatty foods, which I definitely do not. Obviously height measurements for toddlers can be imprecise but she increased from around 70th to 94th percentile in height since 18 months, so she's growing, but just up. So I just want to understand what low BMI means in a toddler like this. Or if like several PPs have said it's just her build. I'm skinny too (or was, pre-pandemic comfort snacking )

Anonymous wrote:My daughter had this same profile at that age. The first thing I would ask is what do her parents look like. It might just be her body type. My ped took one look at me (tall and skinny) and said yes she’s underweight based on BMI but she’s steady in her growth curves so just keep doing what you’re doing.

She’s now 9 and she’s just a tall, slight kid. Perfectly healthy.

But if you’re looking for high calorie and healthy foods a kid that age will eat - try nuts, avocados.

I'm with this. In today's society the risk of childhood obesity needs to be weighed against the possibility she just has a tall thin body type.

Are mom and dad tall and skinny?
Does she eat everything or does she have a color green allergy?
Is she filling up on snacks and not eating food?
Is she constipated?
Is she lean because she runs around alot?

If your child is 25% for weight, I wouldn't worry too much! I have a kid who has always been 90th for height and 5-10% for weight. Lord knows what his BMI has been, but right now he's about 6'1 and 120 lbs at almost 15.

Keep going with avocados and hummus for sure. We use hard boiled eggs and deli meat slices as snacks. Just guide them with healthy eating habits while they're little and things will fall into place.

Anonymous wrote:I am pretty militant about not too many high salt/sugar foods which is what she loves.

One of the main reason to avoid sugar is to avoid unwanted weight gain. I'm not suggesting giving her soda or lots of candy, but there isn't any reason to avoid adding moderate amounts of sugar to a varied diet.

Similarly, I don't know why you would be "militant" about salt. Yes, if you're eating at McDonalds regularly, your child is probably getting too much salt. But encouraging her to eat more by adding some moderately salty snacks seems reasonably.

But I'm no expert - and if I was, you wouldn't know it from an anonymous internet posting. Why not try a one-time consultation with a nutritionist who can tell you whether it would be better to add in some more appealing foods, even if they have a bit more sugar and salt?

That seems very odd. If she is continuing to grow, and is not malnourished, which I assume she is not, if she is growing, I think you should let her be. 2 is the age where many food issues can begin with control and whatnot. I suggest getting a second opinion. Maybe her build is just always going to be long and slender.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't do snacks either. Just do real food and more of it. Like more cheese in her scrambled eggs, baked sweet potato wedges with butter or oil, peanut butter with apples, butter on most vegetables. We aren't militant, but I don't like snacking and we just have dessert on holidays or Friday/Sat night.

NP I think for young children there is nothing wrong with snacks as long as they are healthy. My kids also ate goldfish and yet today do not eat goldfish as adults.

https://www.romper.com/p/how-many-snacks-should-toddlers-eat-dietitians-weigh-in-30387514

PP here. I'm sure it's different for every kid, but mine were eating snacks and then not eating dinner. And we thought dinner was really important for our family: teaching good manner, our food traditions and of course the food is healthier. On weekends we did start a "tapas lunch", so lunch feels more like one big snack. It's normally tiny bits of dinner leftovers with lots of different cut up veggies, hard boiled eggs and nuts.

To the OP- we had to cut down on milk to get our daughter's weight up. She was drinking milk and filling up. I think it coats your stomach and makes you not feel as full. We stopped offering it at meals and she eats more food now. She still likes to relax after dinner with milk though.

OP here - hmm interesting. DD loves milk. I sometimes offer it only after food so she doesn't fill up as much on it when I am concerned about constipation.

Yes. Ounce for ounce, skim milk has about the same calories as CocaCola. Of course it has good things in it, too, but milk is quite filling from a calorie perspective.

Does she like avocado? That's high in calories without being high in sugar... chips and guacamole at meals. If she will eat avocado cut in pieces, add that. And google other higher caloric foods that aren't junk food.

Why is butter considered a healthy fat? I thought butter was full of saturated fats.

Nuts (or nut butter), avocado, cook everything in butter or ghee, make your own granola, coconut everything.

Kids need A LOT of fat, more than you think. There are some good cookbooks about cooking with healthy fat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please feed your child.

Sorry, did I ever in any way indicate that I was not or would not feed my child? Why would you say this?

Some people get defensive when faced with evidence that any humans on this planet might be naturally on the thin side. Ignore it.

NP - also, the typo in the header is misleading, while 94th height & 25th weight is on the thin side, 94th height & <1st weight .... is pretty shocking - a lot of people never read the thread and respond only to the title & OP

My underweight toddler did better when we didn’t offer snacks and concentrated on high-calorie meals. We pretty much served avocados with every meal! We don’t really do sugary foods like cake or cookies except on special occasions but use lots of healthy fats in mashed potatoes, mashed carrots and even soup. I make her full-fat Greek yogurt with homemade concentrated fruit (like fresh strawberries simmered for an hour).

We got her weight up but she’s still slim. It’s just who she is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please feed your child.

Sorry, did I ever in any way indicate that I was not or would not feed my child? Why would you say this?

Some people get defensive when faced with evidence that any humans on this planet might be naturally on the thin side. Ignore it.