Healthy Fat Foods for Underweight Children

Recently, a nutritionist told me that my daughter was underweight and that I should be feeding her healthy fats to bring the weight up. Healthy fats? This prompted a weeklong search for some of the best healthy fat foods that are perfect for a toddler to help put on some weight. The search was kind of difficult as these days the majority of answers are related to reducing fat for overweight children and not trying to increase the fat intake. These healthy fat foods are perfect for toddlers and children that are underweight.

Healthy Fat Foods for Toddlers:

Avocado: While it may be difficult to get your toddler to eat avocado due to it’s color and texture, if you can manage to get your child to eat some of this healthy and fatty vegetable then you are in luck. Try rolling up some crushed avocado into a tortilla as a tasty little snack. Avocado slices with apples are another tasty and healthy fatty treat that children may like.

Peanut Butter: Peanut butter is rich and creamy and usually pretty tempting to toddlers and young children. A healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich is one way to pack on some added fat in your child’s diet. Your child may also like peanut butter and apples or peanut butter and celery. Anything with peanut butter on it or in it is a great start to a hig fat yet healthy diet!

Cheese: Whole milk cheeses such as cheddar, Monterey jack, or mozzarella are perfect for adding some healthy fats into a child’s diet. Most toddlers love cheese sticks or those little cheese shapes that come in the bag. You can add cheese to nearly anything that your toddler eats to increase the fat content in your child’s diet. The healthy fat in cheese along with the vitamin D from the milk is a great addition to a child’s diet.

Fish: While children should have a limited intake of fish that are high in mercury content such as tuna and salmon, there are plenty of fish options that are still high in omega 3 fatty acids which are excellent for your health. Most kids love fish sticks and some even like fish sandwiches so try to get your children to eat fish at least 2 times per week for healthy fats that are perfect for any diet!

Olives: Children either love them or hate them! Try to get your child to eat olives at a young age to promote an acquired taste to this treat. If your child is not fully accepting of olives as a plain snack, try this-chop stuffed olives about 6 or 7 and mix them into two table spoons of cream cheese that has been softened. Spread the olive and cream cheese into celery sticks and serve. This tasty little treat will usually go over quite well with children and the olives make the snack a good high fat treat that is still healthy for children.