How can I help my vegetarian child gain weight?

[tuckerkeys]

my 6 year old son is also a veggie by choice and has been since he was born! He never liked the taste or consistency of meat. He has no weight problem though as some days all he does is eat and eat and eat!

He eats eggs, pb & j, mac & cheese, pasta, cheese, yogurt,waffles and pancakes, cereal, fruit & veggies, and this is pretty much it. Of coarse he likes the junk food but we try to limit this b/c he could live on it if we'd let him!!!

It is hard to go out to eat, he usually has to eat beforehand.

I know they make some excellent veggie burgers and i also had a black bean burger that was excellent, monringstar farms makes these ( organic co ) as far as putting on weight, try things high in carbs like waffles, pancakes etc etc....good luck!

 

[robinb]

Wait, your 4 year old made a decison to become a vegetarian?
I don't believe it. Or I don't believe you let her.

Believe what you like, but I believe my DD was born a vegetarian. She never, ever liked meat ... it's just who she is. FWIW, I am a total carnivore.

OP, I think you need to look into sneaking in more tofu and beans into your DD's diet. Also, go with full-fat dairy. My DD eats tofu, pinto beans (this is a newish food for her), peanut butter, cheese (regular, cottage, cream), scrambled eggs, tamago (sweetened Japanese eggs), pasta, rice, couscous, yogurt, and a lot more!

FWIW, I have always viewed the "soy crumbles" as a way for previous omnivores to adapt to a vegetarian lifestyle. My DD wouldn't touch that stuff with a 10-foot pole!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I just wanted to say to the OP and the parents on here that let their kids be veggies a big . My parents refused to accomodate me wanting to be a vegetarian growing up. When I got my own job at 16 and started to buy my own groceries I became a vegetarian (which I still sort of am, I eat fish/chicken once every other month or longer). The health benefits to being a vegetarian (and especially vegan) are incredible (unless you become a junkitarian ).

I eat Texas Caviar all of the time. It's basically a cold bean salad with Italian dressing eaten with tortilla chips. Even my parents (who I have been able to get them to eat less meat, and when they do eat meat, only organic meat) love it.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Cranberry juice is high in calories and yet healthy too.

Yes, but you do have to be careful how much you consume. My ex LOVED cranberry juice and drank a huge container every day. He started having stomach problems and had to go to the doctor. He ended up having extremely painful kidney stones from drinking too much cranberry juice.

 

[bumbershoot]

Even girls of eight can have body image problems, and it's shocking how many growing kids are actively trying to restrict their calorie intake when their bodies need the energy to grow. Not saying this is your DD, but it seems strange to me that just eliminating the meat from her diet would lead to extreme thinness if she eats things like peanut butter and eggs.

Yes, at 9 I went on my first diet.

And I agree that it's odd she would be that thing eating such high calorie foods.

However, I go a different way in my conclusion...if she's staying so thin while eating a good diet (and it sounds like she is), sounds like this is her nature.

I mean, I myself am heavier as a vegetarian than I was as an omnivore. Many others, except for vegans I've noticed, are the same.

So I would say this is her natural state.

FWIW, I have always viewed the "soy crumbles" as a way for previous omnivores to adapt to a vegetarian lifestyle. My DD wouldn't touch that stuff with a 10-foot pole!

Agreed. I love 'em, but DS can take or leave them. He doesn't understand why they are called "burgers" and "chik nuggets"...those things are for the former omnivore.

And honestly it's not a great idea for us to be eating SO MUCH soy anyway, especially a girl! We do eat it, but we try to be aware that it's probably just as bad as drinking a ton of milk...natural hormones in milk, natural pseudo hormones in soy...not terrific for us.

The health benefits to being a vegetarian (and especially vegan) are incredible (unless you become a junkitarian ).

Isn't THAT the truth???



With all the suggestions of a nutritionist, don't just go with what your ped says. After all, he obviously is already concerned, and I assume he knows of her diet, and MANY people are ridiculously concerned with vegetarian diets. They feel it's not normal. So you have to watch out for those biases.

Therefore, I would call around on my own, and find your own nutritionist who is *knowledgable* in healthy vegetarian diets (for instance, the myth of the "complete protein" hasn't been talked about for 15 years or so...a variety of amino acids eaten throughout the week work just fine, as opposed to what Diet For a something or other's first edition talked about how you had to combine this and that in ONE meal...nonsense) AND who knows about kids' needs.

For instance, if the ND talks about needing milk for calcium, run far away (the dairy protein requires more Ca to digest than the serving of milk has in it...guess where the extra Ca comes from). Find someone who really knows their business.


But honestly, what do YOU think? Ped aside, pretend you're on a deserted island...are YOU worried? Does she look and act healthy to you?

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Thanks for all of the advice (and support) that I have recieved in most of the responses. For the posters that were shocked that I "allowed" my four year old to make this choice, do you think that I should force her against her will to eat meat? Believe me, I would have never made this choice for her. It makes life a lot more difficult to try to figure out what to cook when you have a family of four omnivores and one vegatarian. I wish that she would eat meat and I encourage her to try it, but right now it appears that isn't going to happen anytime soon. (By the way, I did not know at first what triggered her decision to stop eating meat. A year later, she finally admitted to me that she had seen a cartoon where the characters were sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey poked it's head up and said "don't eat me.")

Anyhow, I appreciate all of the ideas that you have given to me about incorporating tofu into her diet. I am definitely going to try some different things with it and see how that goes. I am also going to follow up on finding a nutritionist to help us with this situation.

Thanks again!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

And I agree that it's odd she would be that thing eating such high calorie foods.


With all the suggestions of a nutritionist, don't just go with what your ped says. After all, he obviously is already concerned, and I assume he knows of her diet, and MANY people are ridiculously concerned with vegetarian diets. They feel it's not normal. So you have to watch out for those biases.

Therefore, I would call around on my own, and find your own nutritionist who is *knowledgable* in healthy vegetarian diets (for instance, the myth of the "complete protein" hasn't been talked about for 15 years or so...a variety of amino acids eaten throughout the week work just fine, as opposed to what Diet For a something or other's first edition talked about how you had to combine this and that in ONE meal...nonsense) AND who knows about kids' needs.

For instance, if the ND talks about needing milk for calcium, run far away (the dairy protein requires more Ca to digest than the serving of milk has in it...guess where the extra Ca comes from). Find someone who really knows their business.


But honestly, what do YOU think? Ped aside, pretend you're on a deserted island...are YOU worried? Does she look and act healthy to you?

I am worried because she looks very thin and sometimes doesn't have the energy that I think she should have (compared to her siblings). She does eat foods that are high in fat (cheese, ice cream, sweets, etc) but she really loves fruits and other foods that tend to be low calorie. She also doesn't eat a very large quantity of anything and doesn't act like she has much of an appetite. DD actually reminds me of my mother who has always been very thin and isn't interested in food. The biggest difference is, my mother is short and petite, while dd is very tall and thin. My other two children are also tall and thin, but their weight ratios are a bit higher than dd's.

Our pediatrician has never had any issues with dd becoming a vegetarian and has always been adamant that we should not force any foods on dd. She is very supportive and I'm sure will help us find a good nutritionist. It just may be difficult to find someone who deals with pediatrics and vegetarianism.

Thanks!

 

[Laura]

Thanks for all of the advice (and support) that I have recieved in most of the responses. For the posters that were shocked that I "allowed" my four year old to make this choice, do you think that I should force her against her will to eat meat? Believe me, I would have never made this choice for her. It makes life a lot more difficult to try to figure out what to cook when you have a family of four omnivores and one vegatarian. I wish that she would eat meat and I encourage her to try it, but right now it appears that isn't going to happen anytime soon. (By the way, I did not know at first what triggered her decision to stop eating meat. A year later, she finally admitted to me that she had seen a cartoon where the characters were sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey poked it's head up and said "don't eat me.")

Anyhow, I appreciate all of the ideas that you have given to me about incorporating tofu into her diet. I am definitely going to try some different things with it and see how that goes. I am also going to follow up on finding a nutritionist to help us with this situation.

Thanks again!

A lot of people think that a vegetarian diet is nutritionally deficient, so they're shocked that parents would allow it for such a young child. IMO, most Americans eat too much meat, which is definitely unhealthy. But the image of a big piece of meat covering most of the plate is what a lot of people would consider part of a well-rounded meal.

When I first went veggie, I had a lot of arguments with a family member who, for some reason, initially had a problem with me becoming a vegetarian. I still don't understand why, because I have never been preachy about it, yet I was getting preached to. So kudos to you for being supportive.

I understand that making different meals is a pain when some folks in the family are vegetarian and some are not, so I understand why you'd encourage your child to eat meat. My DH is an omnivore, and there are only two of us eating adult food (DD has just started on vegetable purees and rice cereal, she's 5 months old and is pretty much still a vegan). Often we'll make an entirely vegetarian meal and he'll have meat "on the side", basically. For example, you can bake a cheese lasagna and separately on the stove make a meat sauce to pour on top of it. Likewise, tacos with a choice of refried beans and/or meat. I do think a nutritionist/dietician could help you out with meal planning, too. Since I'm a vegetarian and DH is a diabetic, we already know a lot about diet; we both had to learn.

 

[DisneyKing82]

How about a fruit smoothie with a scoop of whey protein?

 

[justhat]

She does not eat fish, eggs or tofu. She will eat beans, peanut butter, cheese, and yogurt.

To the poster who suggested bean burritos, what kind of beans do you use? She has had the kind with re-fried beans and likes them OK, but I would be willing to fix something different for her.

I think the nutritionist idea is an excellent one! I need to give her pediatrician a call and see if she can refer her to one.

Thanks!

My kids like black beans best. They can seriously eat them everyday if allowed. They love the flexibility to make them themselves, plus it's a pretty simple food so it doesn't take a ton of time and you can do it in addition to a meat-filled meal for yourself.

They also like baked beans as a side item (not with the burritos, just since we're talking about beans). We usually get the vegetarian beans so no worry about bacon bits contaminating them for her.

 

[shortbun]

I was thinking the same thing!!

For those of you who don't believe young children have moral values, think again. At age four, my son said these words to me: "Mommy, I don't want animals to die to feed me." He has mostly eaten vegetarian since then with some forays into things without bones like bacon, chicken noodle soup, a few hamburgers. He's 14 tomorrow. He eats like a horse-grains, pastas, beans, vegetables of all kinds, nuts, fruits, eggs, cheeses(as long as they have vegetable hardening elements), tofu, milk and lots of other stuff that has no amimal parts. I told him then that he could go vegan if he wished when he was doing all his own cooking and his bones had fully grown. He's 6' and weighs 165, all muscle.

OP-I recommend getting a caloric recommendation, a fiber recommendation, counting servings and measuring them as well. Could be your daughter needs to introduce new foods. Could also be that she's filling up on liquids and not getting enough nutrition. Beans, eggs, tofu and cheese need to make up her protein requirements. Have you tried Edamame? It's a great and fun snak in the shell. Just steam them, put them in a paper bag with some salt, shake and pour into a bowl. You can pop the beans into your mouth out of the shell and throw the shell away. Edamame is Japanese for 'soy beans' and they are full of protein, fiber and calories. Also make sure she's getting enough anti-oxidents: blueberries, dark orange mellon, Acai, brocolli, dark squash. These protect the body from aging, cancer and other autoimmune diseases. Good amounts of C, E, B and calcium are very important for growth as well. She could top off each day with some vanilla ice cream and blueberries!! Some calories, fiber, a little protein, calcium and antioxidant. Blueberries and grapes are wonderful frozen as a snack too!!! They eat like candy and are really healthy.

 

[minkydog]

Thanks for all of the advice (and support) that I have recieved in most of the responses. For the posters that were shocked that I "allowed" my four year old to make this choice, do you think that I should force her against her will to eat meat? Believe me, I would have never made this choice for her. It makes life a lot more difficult to try to figure out what to cook when you have a family of four omnivores and one vegatarian. I wish that she would eat meat and I encourage her to try it, but right now it appears that isn't going to happen anytime soon. (By the way, I did not know at first what triggered her decision to stop eating meat. A year later, she finally admitted to me that she had seen a cartoon where the characters were sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey poked it's head up and said "don't eat me.")

Anyhow, I appreciate all of the ideas that you have given to me about incorporating tofu into her diet. I am definitely going to try some different things with it and see how that goes. I am also going to follow up on finding a nutritionist to help us with this situation.

Thanks again!

Awww, poor baby! My daughter is also very sensitive to the suffering of people and animals. She resisted eating meat when she was a baby and limited her intake as a school-age child. At age 15 she decided to become vegetarian. The rest of us are omnivores so i advised DD that she would have to educate herself well enough to educate me--I know a good bit about nutrition, but I wanted *her* to know it so well she could teach it.

Things have worked out very well. DD did a great job of managing her diet and together we figured out how to cook meals that would satisfy everyone without me becoming a short-order cook. I do not make different meals for each one. They eat what's on the table, or "Welcome to my world famous PB&J sandwich."

The trick for me was to relearn how to cook regular food without using meat or meat-based products. We all love dry beans and I make a crock-pot full every week. I cook up a pot of brown rice once a week and use it in lots of dishes. Almost everything we eat is fresh; very little comes from cans or packages. DD is very slender and has a dancer's body, so she has to eat higher calories and a little more fat to maintain proper health. Like your daughter, she can't stand tofu. No way, no how. I don't make her eat it, just like I didn't make her eat meat when she was little.

The one and only difficulty DD has had is anemia. She's 16 so she's at that age when a lot of girls have heavy periods. I had the ped check her hemoglobin even though DD eats a very well-balanced diet--she was seriously anemic! So the ped put her on prescription Iron and got the anemia corrected. At this point, DD has decided to add a little white meat to her diet. She will eat a little chicken or shrimp or salmon once a week. And she is committed to continuing the Iron.

I think the nutritionist will be a great help to you. If you have a children's hospital nearby it would be worth your while to call them--they deal with vegetarian children all the time(it's not as unusual as you might think.) I don't think I'd worry overly much about her weight if she's healthy. Of course, if she's making much of her weight or if it becomes clearer that she is actually restricting her diet, then you have much more serious things going on.

 

[minkydog]

For those of you who don't believe young children have moral values, think again. At age four, my son said these words to me: "Mommy, I don't want animals to die to feed me."

This is a well-thought out mature statement, regardless of whether it came from a 4yo or an adult. My daughter has said the same thing, along with "I don't eat anything that has a face." My sister's child is the same way--doesn't eat any meat except the occasional hot dog(whatever). Since learning to cook vegetarian I find that we all are healthier. In fact, the rest of us have cut our meat intake by about 2/3, being satisfied with a grain & fruit & vegetable heavy menu.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Since learning to cook vegetarian I find that we all are healthier. In fact, the rest of us have cut our meat intake by about 2/3, being satisfied with a grain & fruit & vegetable heavy menu.

OK, so what is for dinner? Everything sounds blah. I need to hit the grocery store.

All we ever eat is plain chicken breast & veggies.

 

[sharynjean]

One of my favorite meals to make, which I'm sure is pretty fatty, is macaroni and cheese...the velveeta rotini, broccoli and cheese one is best. But the shells and cheese will work too. Add Morningstar Farms crumbles. And after it's all cooked up, throw some ranch dressing in there. It is so tasty!!! I, personally, make my own mac and cheese, and use fat free dressing, as I'm trying to lose weight.

 

[alexandria674]

Wait, your 4 year old made a decison to become a vegetarian?
I don't believe it. Or I don't believe you let her.

Not as weird as you think. When I was four or five I stopped having dairy products. My mother tried to get me to eat yogurt, cheese and drink milk but for some reason I just stopped.

 

[LisaR]

OP, what do you mean by "extremely tall and extremely thin?" I had a pediatrician that always hounded me about my DS's weight saying that he was way too thin. He is what he is. He wasn't starving, third world, anorexic. He just happened to be a very tall, very thin kid. He still is. He will be 12 in a few weeks and he does not have a single friend that is as skinny and tall as he is and he has bulked up as he has grown.

Don't let a doctor or nutritionist convince you that the vegetarian diet is "causing" the low weight. Some kids are bean poles. My son was a tried and true carnivore. I was actually a vegetarian for 12 years until he came along and would only eat meat. I got tired of cooking separate meals and started eating meat again. My son was a skinny, meat eating boy. We recently broke him of his meat eating ways and became vegan and now he is a skinny, veggie eating boy. It is just the way he is.

 

[Macca1111]

To the poster who suggested bean burritos, what kind of beans do you use? She has had the kind with re-fried beans and likes them OK, but I would be willing to fix something different for her.

Several people have mentioned black beans, but I wanted to mention why...most refried beans are not vegitarian, as they are cooked in pork fat. If your daughter is ok with that, no problem (it obviously tastes different than actual meat) but otherwise you can find vegi ones - look carefully at the label tho. Black beans, on the other hand, are generally vegitarian.

Wait, your 4 year old made a decison to become a vegetarian?
I don't believe it. Or I don't believe you let her.

That seems really judgemental...lots of people figure out even before they can express it that they don't like meat, or don't like where it comes from. My sister would have been better off if my mom hadn't tried to force the meat issue - she still went veggie and it made meals ridiculous for a long time. She never in her whole life liked eating red meat, and still has zero interest in it.

FYI--protein is very important, but also important is iron. Make sure she's getting enough. Iron from vegetarian sources is harder to absorb than iron from meat.

This was the worst bit of my sister hating meat - the doctors were sure that she wasn't getting enough iron, so she had to take iron droplets for years. That was also awful to witness. There are so many options without resorting to that - it's nice that you're trying to figure this out logically for her OP. I'm going to have to say that from my experience the vegitarian diet seems to help people stay at a healthier weight, and your daughter just may be built really thin. My dad eats terribly and is still beanpole thin and over 50. I eat pretty well and weigh more than he does. If you find that she's eating well and feels ok, then I wouldn't worry. If she does seem tired as you mentioned, it very well could be the iron issue, and they can test for that at the pediatricians - any dark leafy greens will help in that area. Good luck!

How about a fruit smoothie with a scoop of whey protein?

That sounds fabulous. You making enough to share?

 

[Camicar]

I guess I am not in favor of 'slipping' tofu, etc into foods and hiding her food intake from her to make it more palatable.

It's allowing her to make major decisions without dealing with the consequences. IOW -- if she is mature enough and adamant enough about not eating meat, then she needs to be mature enough and determined enough to eat substitutes that satisfy her nutritional needs. Frankly, I think after she sees a nutriotionist, I'd make it HER job to find ways to meet her nutritional needs.

 

[joyjoy]

Wait, your 4 year old made a decison to become a vegetarian?
I don't believe it. Or I don't believe you let her.

Rude.

OP, does she like stir-fry? You could toss some tofu in that and serve over rice or vermicelli, it's yummy. Do you make veggie burgers for her? Add cheese and avocado for a change. I second the soy milk over cereal. Make some veggie lasagna with spinach, zucchini and squash with ricotta and mozarella, your whole family would probably like that.

I wish my vegetarianism made me skinny, but then, I'm not 8. Or 28. Or even 38.

Good luck with your little one.