Genetically Underweight?

My husband and dd are skinny. (I am not) They are spaghetti....I am penne pasta. It must be a metabolism thing. I took DD to the ped because she wasn't even on the weight chart for a 10 year old her size (54 inches). She's not sickly or anything. She has a lot of energy, too. Ped said feed her healthy food and leave it alone. When she hits puberty, it might change.

My husband said his mother used to make him drink several malts or shakes a day to help him gain weight. To this day..he won't even look at a milkshake.

Good luck.

my daughter is 6'1 and is now finally 135/. She would look absolutely skeletal years ago. She is now 19. They said that gaining can be something that doesn't occur very easily for Marfan's patients

Hi J.!
You've gotten some good replies. So if you've ruled our Marfan Syndrome, your guys may just be tall and thin. As long as they are healthy and energetic, and their doctors think everything is fine, then it probably is. I've always been tall and very thin, and kids will make fun no matter what - too tall, too thin, too short, too fat - it's just the way it is. Unfortunately, as the obesity epidemic in this country gets worse, thinner people will be seen even more as something strange, but if your son is happy and doing well, I wouldn't worry too much. With all of people's "concerns" about me and my twin, we both had happy, healthy babies and life is good. Try not to compare too much with the "normal" or overweight kids his age - he's just not like them, and that's ok. :) I've heard doctors talk about Carnation breakfasts, too, just to add some calories; I drink a GNC weight gainer shake for calories/carbs so I don't lose weight from running (distance running), but that's probably a bit much for a little boy...
Best wishes,
Christina

My daughter (age 5) has this same problem. Our Pediatrician told me to slip extra calories in her diet with Carnation Instant Breakfast. It has extra vitamins and minerals as well as the extra calories. My daughter just thinks she is getting chocolate milk. She still runs on the skinny side but she is not below the percentile for weight just in the lower.

The tall & thin combined with the dip in the chest suggests Marfan syndrome; see if any of the other symptoms match as well. Abraham Lincoln had it. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/marfan-syndrome/DS00540/...

Because Marfan syndrome can affect so many body systems, the symptoms of the disease vary greatly, even among members of the same family. Some people experience only mild effects, whereas others develop life-threatening complications. In most cases, the disease tends to worsen with age.

Marfan syndrome features may include:

Tall and slender build
Disproportionately long arms, legs, fingers and toes
A breastbone that protrudes outward or dips inward
A high, arched palate and crowded teeth
Heart murmurs
Extreme nearsightedness
A curved spine
Flat feet

It could just be high metabolism. My 5 year old Toby has the same skinny issue except he does not eat very much at one sitting. He snacks here and there but can hardly finish a whole sandwich. My husband and his sister had high metabolism as children (they still are thin and fit) and referred to as bean poles. My point is, as long as he get his vitamins and has good nutrition, there may not be anything you can do to fix it. It is genetics.

Oh, I just thought of something. My mother-in-law said she thought she had hyperthyroidism as a child and now she thinks she has hypothyroidism(meaning she was thin as a kid and now gains weight easily as an adult). Maybe you can get his thyroid checked.

As long as they are eating what do you propose anyone, the doctor, do? You are frutstrated no one will do anything but I don't know what you would want them to do. You can't magically make people gain weight if they are predisposed to thinness.
I also have a super skinny son and two that are normal weight. This kid is 14 1/2 and hasn't broken 100 lbs yet. His 13yo brother outweighs him by 20-25 lbs and my 9 yr old is about 70 lbs. I know he grows upwards but never puts on much weight. But his feet sure are big. Mens 10 1/2. I have taken him to the doctor for this when he was younger. He said he was eating and appeared healthy that genetics just dictated this kid was thinnner. Not just thin, skinny. Like clothes fall off and slim jeans are to small. He is active. Rides his bike, frisbee, walks his dog, swims etc. Just has a different metabolism than the rest of us. Always been a good eater. Was 9lbs at birth. Breast fed. Plump little thing. Just shoots up without much weight.
As long as he is healthy, takes after your husband, and the doctor isn't worried....then there is not much you can do. I would however make sure that the calories he does get are healthy calories. Not "junk" food. While they may not gain weight their arteries will surely clog up and have other health problems.
For my skinnny kid at one time, I used slim fast shakes as supplements for snacking, kinda like chocolate milk. He didn't gain weight with the extra calories but I felt better that he was drinking them. We call them shakes. So I have basically tried everything. He is just skinny.
Good luck,
L.

The indentation in the chest is calle pectus excavatum. Sounds like your husband and son have a very mild form of this. It is genetic, and most commonly the males who have it are very tall and thin. I don't know why this is. I am a physical therapist and attended a course 2 weeks ago by a therapist who is a specialist in cardiopulmonary therapy and she has treated many individuals with this condition. Why they tend to be tall and thin, I don't know. But that might lend you some insight and you could do some more research if you are interested. The PT who taught the course I attended is Mary Massery and she is based out of Chicago. She has a website and you might be able to get some information there as well. www.MasseryPT.com

If your husband has been like this his whole life and has no health problems and your son is healthy and active, then what is the problem? You just married a skinny guy and have a skinny son. Big deal, everyone is different. My 5 year old son is the same height and only weighs 38 lbs. I hope no one is ever mean to your son because of his body type, but I don't think any of our children will go through life without a little teasing here and there about something. It is part of life, unfortunately. Just make sure you and your husband have a positive attitude about your own bodies and he will learn that positive attitude from you. My son has been in preschool for a year and has lots of friends and has never once been picked on for being thin. Hopefully, yours won't either. Just don't make an issue of it, especially around your son. Good luck with everything and congratulations on baby number 3!!

There is this diet that says you can lose 5 pounds in 5 days. The therory behind this diet is for 3 days you load you body with high calorie junk then you stop and eat veggies,fish,skinless chicken things like that. The way this works is putting all that junk in your body triggers your brain to release more metobolic enzymes to burn off the extra calories you are taking in. It takes 2 days for your brain to figure out you quit so when you are eating the good stuff it is still putting out the enzymes like you are eating bad. So you lose weight. Point here is if they are eating all the wrong foods and all those snacks their brain has their system in over drive and that is also the reason for going full speed full time. Now for the hard part. Clean out your pantry, no more junk hubby also. replace it with protein bars and buy protein drinks. Meat and potatos but throw in some veggies. Any time they are hungry use veggies or peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Give him a midnight snack so to speak right before bed with one of those drinks for kids who don't eat right. Chicken nuggets with fruit and veggies, eggs and pancakes for breakfast but with a fruit topping or light syrup. You need to reverse the brain signal. Now for why I say this. I was put in the hospital several times during my younger life because at 5'7" I would carry only 98 pounds of weight and my max was 108. I have a 4 year old that is 43 inches and until 6 months ago weighed in at a whopping 29 pounds. He looked malnurished and you could see all his bones and yes he had the indention in his chest it is the cavity marker for CPR everyone has it just doesn't show. I started feeding him pancakes and eggs everymorning, peanut butter and jelly and cheetos or nuggets and fruit with green beans for lunch and the occasional cheese burger with apple dippers. For dinner same thing or pizza with extra cheese and mushrooms light sauce. I used the pediasure to make pudding for him in place of milk and buy whole milk only. Any time he says he is hungry I fix him a sandwich or something good for him and he eats a snack everynight before bed. He probably drinks 2 of the pediasure a day and 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the rest of his food, I am glad to say he now weighes in at 43 pounds and looks so healthy. But if he gets sick he will drop 6 pounds in a couple of days or if we go off this schedule of feed him good everytime he says he wants something. Now that hi weight is up I buy him snack cakes and cookies but keep them put up and he knows he has to eat something good before he can have them. It might be tough at first for both of them but in the long run it will be better for them. I actually burnt out my thyroid and dont' have a working one any more so now I fight to lose weight. If you try this for a couple of weeks and do not notice a weight change when mine was 2 I took him to a gastro doc and he gave us some liquid med that made him hungry all the time and we stuck to good foods but as soon as we would see a weight change we would stop the meds and the weight would be gone in a couple of days. It is very frustrating but worth the fight if it works for you. Good Luck and I am always here if you need. OOps almost forgot a multivitamin with calcium everyday.

I was that way until I hit my mid 30 then boom the weight came on. My little brother was exactly like you husband until he hit his middle thirty then went to 250 lbs. He's 6'4-6'5. I on the other hand always weighed 103-105 5'2" until my middle 30's and both of us were VERY active then the weight just kinda came on when we settle down and weren't quite as active. So I really don't think it's anything to worry about. With some people their metabolism is so high until their middle thirties that they burn whatever calories they take in that they just don't gain weight. That's the way it was with myself, my brother, and all of my sisters. Actually...It's a good thing...trust me.

I think that my son was about the same size when he was 5. Now he is 6 and 1/2 46 inches tall and weights in at a whopping 38 pounds. My ped says that he is light weight but that his proprotions are exactly right and he keeps telling me not to worry about it unless there is a sudden change in one of the numbers.
We also give my son Pedisure (He prefers the Walmart generic brand). It is high calories and he loves it.
Good luck
H.

Sounds like my family. It's just a genetic thing. My mom was 5'7 1/2" and only weighed between 105 and 110 her entire life. I'm almost that thin. My brother was that thin too, and my older sister. My son is 6'2" and probably weighs 130. He has an extreme indentation in his chest. The indented chest also runs in our family. It is called "pigeon chested" or "pectus excavatum". We've never been tested for Marfan syndrome, although I've heard of it. None of my family that I know of has had high cholesterol, and we've always eated anything we want to. In the case of the men, in massive quantities, and it seems that us women eat "like a bird". I just know to the bite when I've had enough and I quit eating, no matter what is on my plate. It is unappetizing and sometimes downright nauseating to continue eating.

If your doctor's are unconcerned about his weight, leave it at that, and be VERY happy. In this society it is an unbelievable gift! Most of my doctor's look at my size and don't even bat an eyelash at the size of my children.

J.,

I understand your concern.

My husband is 6'3 and 175. Which is in the healthy range but he'd like to weigh more.

He went to the health food store and got some weight gainer. It helps put weight on. He also uses protein shakes for extra protein. In addition to that he works out so that the weight he gains isn't just fat.

I think the weight gainer would help since you're concerned.

Hope this helps!

Take care and God bless!

M.