Wendy wrote:

My son's pediatrician suspects I might be starving him. Big sigh.

I've got three children. I've got a normal sized 12 year old who has no
health issues, has had menarche, stuff like that. She's slim but not
skinny. She exercises regularly.

I've got a 10 year old son who has a bit too much bodyfat for optimum
health but only a health nut would notice - half his class is bulkier than
him. I mentioned to his doctor once that I was concerned about the
development of new belly fat and the doctor looked at me like I was
nuts. (The doctor sees tons of obese children - no pun intended - and
didn't think my kid's fat roll was worth commenting on.) In retrospect I
wish I had never made that comment. It was soon after noticing my son's
trend towards rotundness that I made my major lifestyle changes to lose my
weight. My son's eating has not changed that much and we're handling his
slight weight issues by increasing family activities.

But my third child is very, very small. 28 pounds at four years
old. He's gained 1.5 pounds in the past two years. There are reasons why
he might be small - a critical illness last year where he lost a bunch of
weight (that he's since regained), the fact that all his siblings were
unusually small at his age, the fact that my kids are unusually active and
eat unusually healthy foods in comparison to their peers...

But the doctor knows I've lost 50+ pounds in the past year, and has
started wondering if I've got some sort of eating disorder. What to
do? I've got until Jan. 15th to fatten him up and then the doctor plans
to start doing all sorts of tests that I don't want to put my kid
through. (My kid is energetic and healthy - no colds, etc.)

Here's what I do. I put peanutbutter on anything possible. I feed him
spoonfuls of cod liver oil. I mix flaxseed into his oatmeal. I give him
Balance bars or Myoplex shakes for snacks. He has a snack cupboard with
a wide variety of choices available to him all the time (including pudding
& those dreaded almonds.) He is fed five or six times a day. He doesn't
have a huge appetite and is unpredictable in what he'll eat: tonight, for
example, he ate cranberry relish and whole wheat bread but passed up the
mashed potatoes and turkey and broccoli (which he usually loves.)

I don't buy cookies or chips or pretty much any refined flour products -
even the crackers are whole wheat ones. I only buy skim milk for the rest
of the family but I buy flavored 2% milk for him (because he won't drink
plain milk.) I'm thinking of mixing up infant formula for him again if
he'll drink it!

Any other ideas? He just came downstairs saying he's hungry for an orange
so I'll go get him one (yes, it's after 9 pm and no, he's not sleepy.)

Wendy

Wendy:

I have been reading some of the responses and people
are making ridiculous comments. You need a new doctor.
I have lost 70 lbs in the past 2 yrs and I have heard
that one friend thinks I have AIDS! People are so
content with being overweight .... while their health
is destroyed.

Keep an eye on your son's weight.

Andy