Weight gaining ideas for children | ADHD Information
~ Just looking to toss around some idea's on how people work to keep weight on their children while taking the ADHD medications..meal tricks..specific calorie foods, drinks..snacks....etc...
Our doctor suggested a 'heavy' breakfast with the medication and since mine eats school lunch she directly talked to him, he is 7, and said to him "if you feel you aren't hungary for your whole lunch please eat at least half of it for me". I do make a healthy dinner and we have specific nights when it is "g&g" night meaning grab what you want and go...that is on sports nights a couple nights a week.
~ How are you working to keep the medication from taking over their daily meal intake?
My daughter is following her genetic makeup. My husband was very thin and weighed 120lbs when we got married. My sister is tiny as well. My daughter will fill out a bit when she hits puberty. She just has very little leaway with weight loss due to meds. I have to bribe her to get protein into her. At least she like vegetables.
I'm surprised you brought the topic up regarding weight maintenance, because I started my meds back up this week after a whole year of not taking them. Ive been thinking all week what I did to maintain my body weight last year, because it is so difficult to eat while taking the meds. I'm just taking instant release, and the extended release supressed my appetite even more for much longer. I recall drinking a lot of fluids during the day, mostly water, to flush the meds out of my system. When I got home from school, I'd have a soda because the sugar brought on some hunger for me. Chewing gum also helped bring my appetite back, but it's a nasty habit. However, this year, I'm sticking to a big breakfast in the morning, more than I can eat, because I know when I get home it's a real struggle to eat. I also find it more difficult to eat foods, that I tend to be picky about when I'm not on the medication. I eat the honey oats bars for breakfast, they fill you up pretty well, and carry 1 or 2 with me during the day to snack on. If you have a sams club near you, buy a box of them, works out a lot cheaper than buying them individually. Yogurt also helps when you're not hungry just to get something in your stomach, especially if you don't eat breakfast. I used to struggle to eat breakfast in the mornings, but after forcing myself to the last couple of years, I'm used to it. Naturally, I have a fast metabolism so im slender either way, but I can't let the meds bring my weight down, so therefore I constantly keep my ears open about new ideas. I can see why stimulants were used for diet pills, however, I heard that's not the case anymore. I'm still dreaming that they will bring out a pill that will make you hungry, or at least gain more weight, because I really could use some. I'm 6ft 145lbs.
Everyone on my mothers side of the family are slender, even my aunt who is 55. No matter what we eat, we just don't gain weight.
My daughter has always eaten very little and been very picky, this is not just a med thing for us but the meds make it more important to watch the weight.
My daughter gets ice cream. We use it to bribe her to eat more dinner. She normally will not eat meat of any kind; she prefers soup, salads and vegatables. If she eats a chicken leg or fish (with her vegetables), she gets a bowl of ice cream. She has always been small; and is 58lbs and 10 years old. She still wears size 6 pants (which are 8 inches too short). 
We have tried milkshakes of icecream and boost or pediasure but she gets tired of shakes really fast.
BREAKFAST:FRUIT,TOAST,BACON,jUICE
lUNCH: CRACKERS, HORMELS NATURAL LUNCH MEATS,CHEESE,FRUIT,SALAD
DINNER: SALAD,POTAOES,MEAT,BROCOOLI STEAMED THEN BUTTER WITH WHITE CHEESE,STEAMED ASPARAGUSW/BUTTER
SNACKS:DRINKABLE SF YOGURTS,SMOOTHIES,PROTEIN DRINKS. FRUITS/RAW VEGS. SB RANCH AND OTHER DIPS FOR VEGS.
COOK MEATS EARLY IN MORNING OR WHILE AT SPORTS PRACTICES.
HOPE THESE SAMPLES HELP OUT.
WE ALSO KEEP A BRITA PITCHER FULL OF WATER IN REFRIG.
VICKIE: BOTH ARE KIDS ARE SLIM. YOUR DAUGHTER NEEDS MORE FOOD. GIVE HER NUTS/SEEDS AND PB OUR GIRLS OUR A LOT ALIKE. OUR GIRL IS 88 LBS AT 13. SHE WORE SLIMS UNTIL NOW. OURS ISN'T ADHD EITHER. STARCHES CAN HELP ADD POUNDS ALSO. PICKY EATER ALSO.MY CONCERN WITH OURS IS A EATING DISORDER LATER. My 9 yr. old daughter was always slim, and a very picky eater even before Adderall XR. We occasionally use Ensure, but she tires of this easily. She does like ice cream, so our doctor "prescribed" one helping of ice cream daily. She said, "that doctor rocks!" Since that time, she has tried to eat one and possibly more helpings of ice cream. She is usually hungry at breakfast, so I let her eat pretty much what she wants, within reason. She takes her medication at about 7:30am, so she is not usually hungry for lunch. I usually delay supper until mid evening, after meds wear off. She is usually starved by this time, and I don't have much trouble with getting her to eat. She also snacks before bedtime. Despite all of this, she still gains very little weight, and gains very slowly. However, she is able to prevent losing it, which has been an issue in the past.
I just went to a dietician for my son to help him gain and keep wait on. She suggested the following: (just started yesterday so not sure it works yet):
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to whatever you can (pancake batter, milk shakes, etec)
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to popcorn, ontop of pancakes or waffles. Also, when making these from scratach, reduce the milk and add two eggs and olive oil
Add protein powder to whatever you can or have your child drink a protein shake and add the oil to it.
She basically said that these kids need more fat in their diet. People are afraid of the high fat diets, but with kids on meds, she said that is what they need more than anything.
Hope it works. I'll keep you posted.
mars
Good enuf! (just thought I'd mention the "keeping things in balance" thing...fast food can become addictive, as I know from experience!)
Seems my genes conspired to keep my eating challenging--I've been tall and lean all my life, have high (now down to borderline) cholesterol, and taking medication for my ADD. So this topic of eathing right and maintaining weight is a good one!
JohnD, sorry to confuse you, in no way did the dietician say that my sone should cut out all the other healthy foods he needs. He still is eating lots of fruit and veggies, along with carbs. The fat that we added to his diet is protein along with the extra oil and butter. Not to the excess though, only 1 -2 tablespoons a day of extra oil and/or butter. I can assure you that they person I am working with is highly qualified and most of the drs. in this area recommend their patients to her. Thanks though for your concern.
mars
I googled up a couple sites that look helpful...lots more out there! The advice for kids on medication to eat a lot of fat sounds unhealthy to me if the ratio of fat to other food components (proteins, sugars, starches, etc..) gets imbalanced. I'd ask for explanation for that statement!
http://health.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-704946,curpg-4 .cms
My family, as a rule, has no trouble gaining weight!
My oldest son is 5'10" and weighs 190 pounds, mostly muscle. My youngest, 8, is our adhder and has lost some appetite from the meds. He's 74 pounds right now. He eats a good breakfast, ignores lunch at school
, and eats okay at supper. I give him more supper than he can eat and then negotiate down to half of what's on his plate. He loves chicken skin, so when we have Chester Fried, we all pull ours off and give it to him. I try to avoid most other bad fats, though he does get chocolate ice cream with Magic Shell. When we go out to eat, we try to go to a buffet so he'll pick lots of stuff to try. He usually starts snacking about 7 pm and eats stuff like pretzels, yogurt, ice cream until bed at 8:30pm.
Since we don't have a weight issue right now, I just make sure that he has lots of milk and a good vitamin every morning. He's a bit of a flavor snob, so I tell him that the orange ones are mango and he buys it!! Shhh! It's a secret!
Sounds like awesome advice mars, I've been trying to gain weight forever!