# Underweight 9 year old..



## Aeriane (Apr 4, 2005)

Hello all! My daughter, who's 9, weighs 52 lbs soaking wet. She's almost 4 foot, pushing 5 foot tall. The other day she was reading to her sister, sitting on the floor, arm outstretched with her hand on the floor and every single bone showed, it was like looking at holocaust pictures or something. I knew her ribs showed awfully but this arm thing really got my attention.

I voiced my concerns at our pedi's office at her annual checkup and she said "yeah, she's lighter than I'd like but not worrisome yet". This was back in June.

Shannon eats very well. She doesn't eat a lot, just what she needs. We could all learn from her. She's not big on junk food thank goodness. She likes oatmeal at breakfast, salad and such at lunch and a typical dinner would be a small piece of chicken, 2 tblsp of potato, 1/4 cup of veggies. Her favorite snack is carrots or celery, rice cakes or peanuts.

Is this something you'd worry about? I'm guessing her metabolism is high and she's not consuming enough calories. She's also cold and frail acting. Does this raise any red flags for you?

The rest of our family are not like this. Her younger siblings are from a different father so they have his german stature and stockiness. Her two older siblings have her dad and they're both tall and have lots of muscle and are very robust/healthy.

I am ummmm well we won't get into that. LOL I'm a bit on the heavy side, her father is trim/normal.

Thank you for reading this far and thanks in advance for any comments. This has been nagging at me and before I panic or call the pediatrician I wanted to hear other parent's comments and suggestions. Thank you, Kitty


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

Well if she eats well and has access to food whenever she is hungry I wouldn't be concerned.

My mom raised me admist many comments my extreme skinniness. I am healthy always have been, am strong, have good endurance.

I had access to all sorts of healthy food, mom always had stuff around. I am a nibbler and would rather drink than eat.

For years I was stuck on 40 some odd lbs then for years stuck on 65 then 70 then 90









Now I am stuck on about 110. I am 5'8" and 32 years old.

Is it possible to get more high fat snacks into her? Nuts, avocados ect

Is she lethargic?


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## wifty (Aug 16, 2006)

I just looked up her stats on the CDC table for growth and if she is almost 5 feet, that puts her off the chart for height, but her weight is about the 5% mark.

I used to work for a peds doc and honestly, given the info you have given, the doc would have red flags going off and at least check into it a bit further to make sure she is healthy. Anytime the height and weight are so different, means something needs to be checked into. Also, given that the rest of the family is more solid/stocky in youth, its unusal (though not abnormal completly) for her to be so tall and skinny.

The being cold and frail is also a warning sign. Did you talk to the doc about this? Have you been with him long and trust him for the most part?

Everything is probably ok especially if she has always been like this on the chart, but honestly, based on the doc I worked with, there would be more follow-up just to make sure everything was progressing like it should.

with smiles


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

Drs where always going after me about my weight as a child, very frustrating!

I was healthy so what was the big deal?

They still do, but now I just get right back in their face.

I think those growth charts are so inaccurate, people are such individuals.

But you do need to go with your intuition, if you feel something wrong get it checked out.


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## Satori (Jan 30, 2003)

Honestly? I would get her checked for Celiac disease, its very common and easily treated though diet. Check out www.celiac.com for more info.


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

Last December, my 8 year old (now 9) was about that size and soooo skinny, I was a little worried, so we started him out on a generic Ensure shake a day (in addition to a more pumped up diet). My April he'd gained 8 lbs and felt and looked much better and his ADD symptoms had improved a bit. I took him off of them and he didn't gain anything for months and his symptoms got really bad again, so last month we started them and he's back to being able to pay attention. He's still super skinny, so I think I'll keep up on it.


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## mata (Apr 20, 2006)

my daughter is similar, for her age. It was her appearance that concerned me a little-and without making a big deal about it to her, I looked for ways to increase her caloric/nutrient intake (it seemed like her high metabolism just burned whatever she ate too quickly.) So I would add yogurt, flax seed oil, etc. to her smoothies, and give her a lot of good calorie foods like avocados, nuts, etc. She put on a little weight and is now less "fragile."


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

The things that would concern me is that that she is "cold and frail acting" -- if she has little fat, that would explain the "cold", but the frail acting suggests that she's not as healthy as you'd like. It's one thing to be thin, it's another to be frail.

How is her activity level? How is her stamina? Strength? And I hate to raise it, but how is her attitude toward food? What's her body image like? Alas, it IS possible for a 9 year old to have an eating disorder.

I guess I would go back to the doctor. Check into celiac disease or food allergies. And try to get her to snack on a few foods that have a higher density of nutrients -- nuts, sunflower seeds, avocado, yogurt, cheese. Can you get her to have something more caloric at lunch? A salad alone for a 9 year old doesn't sound like much. And make sure she gets healthy snacks every 2-3 hours.


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## carrotstick (Dec 1, 2006)

I know this thread is older, but I came her for advice on the same thing. How is your daughter doing? My son is 8 years old and about 45 pounds... SO skinny! He is incredibly active, so I know he burns off everything he eats... and we eat extremely healthy so he isn't getting all the crap that other kids are getting... We haven't gone to the doctor, so I am not sure what they would say... I just started doing a fitday.com page for him. Today he had 1770 calories and yesterday he had 1691. I am going to try to make sure he gets at least 2000 a day and see if that helps.

Synthea: Do you still have your ds on the Ensure? My son has a bit of ADD as well, and I was wondering if it could really help things.

It is good to know there are others going through the same thing. I am so sick of all the literature on obese kids we get from the school!


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## CrunchyGranolaMom (Feb 5, 2002)

I agree with checking into celiac. My dd sounds very similar to yours, and we found out last year that she had Crohn's disease (same disease family as celiac, but a whole heckuva lot worse). She had a GREAT diet, it was just not the right one for what her body could metabolize.

I'd also love an update on the kids mentioned by pps!

Good luck with it.


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