Low BMI

Updated
  • Updated on Nov 24, 2025
  • Published on Mar 10, 2025
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Many children who weigh less than others their age are healthy and do not need to try to gain weight. This is especially the case if they eat a generally balanced diet and have been tracking around the same height and weight percentile-for-age over time.

They may go through puberty on a different schedule than some of their peers, and their bodies may grow and change at a different rate.

Most underweight teens catch up in weight as they finish puberty during their later teen years.

Your child’s healthcare provider will help you understand if your child is experiencing poor growth or malnutrition related to insufficient caloric intake.

Adding the following healthful, yet high calorie items to foods can be helpful for these children. Consider including some of these suggestions in smoothies, adding them to other foods, combining them together, or even eating them alone.

Food

Calories

  • Instant breakfast powder (1 packet)

  • Infant cereal (for infants) (1 tablespoon)

130

9

  • Whole milk (1 cup)

  • Powdered milk (1 tablespoon)

  • Evaporated milk (1 tablespoon)

146

25

20

Vegetable oils (1 tablespoon)

110

Avocado (1/2 of medium)

160

Cheese (1oz)

100

Full-fat yogurt, plain (6oz container)

100

Granola (1/4 cup)

140

Dried fruit (1/4 cup)

80

Peanut butter (1 tablespoon)

95

Hummus (1 tablespoon)

25

Nuts and seeds (ground for younger kids to avoid choking hazard) (1/4 cup)

200

Specialized drinks such as Pediasure (8 oz)
or Boost Kids Essentials (8 oz)

240

360

Additional High Calorie Food Ideas from Rady Children’s Occupational Therapy Department

Dairy

  • “Super Milk”: add ½-1 cup nonfat dry milk powder to 4 cups whole milk (200-250 calories per cup)

    • Use super milk, Half and Half, evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk to make pudding, cocoa, milk shakes, cream soup or hot cereal.

  • Add dry milk powder to soup, hot cereal, casseroles, mashed potatoes, baked goods and gravy (25 calories per tablespoon)

  • Add “Carnation Breakfast Essentials” to whole milk, milk shakes, yogurt, pudding or hot cereal.

  • Add cheese to sandwiches and salads (100 calories per slice).

  • Melt cheese on meat, potatoes, rice, pasta, vegetables and in cream sauce.

  • Spread cream cheese or cottage cheese on bread, crackers and celery sticks.

Proteins

  • Add cooked meat to salads, casseroles, soup and omelets.

  • Add cooked egg yolks to mashed potatoes, hot cereal, macaroni and cheese, meat loaf or casseroles (60 calories each).

  • Add extra eggs to French toast, pancakes, custard and baked goods (80 calories per egg).

  • Spread peanut butter on bread, crackers, fruit (apples, bananas) or celery (90 calories per tablespoon).

  • Blend peanut butter into milk shakes.

Fruit & Vegetables

  • Make gelatin with 100% fruit juice instead of water.

  • Add less water when reconstituting frozen juice.

  • Dip fresh fruit or steamed vegetables in sour cream or yogurt.

  • Add mashed avocado to foods.

Grains

  • Make hot cereal with super milk (see recipe in the dairy section above) or juice instead of water.

  • Serve granola over ice cream, yogurt, frozen yogurt or fruit salad.

Fats

  • Stir butter or margarine into soup, cooked vegetables, mashed potatoes, cooked cereal, eggs, pasta and rice (120 calories per tablespoon).

  • Mix mayonnaise with salads or eggs.  Spread it on sandwiches (100 calories per tablespoon).

  • Add whipping cream to pie, fruit, pudding and hot chocolate (50 calories per tablespoon).

Snack Ideas

  • Trail mix – dried fruits and nuts (250 calories per half cup).

  • Granola and super milk with raisins and banana slices (325 calories per small bowl).

  • Hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows (350 calories per cup).

  • Chocolate peanut butter milk shake using Half and Half (320 calories per cup).

  • Fruit kabobs dipped in strawberry yogurt.

  • Peanut butter granola bar (150 calories).

Additional Recipe Resources

This publication was adapted from information within Nemours KidsHealth articles and kidshealth.org

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/childs-weight.html?ref=search Reviewed by: NM M.D., AR D.O. | 11/2025