Plenty of active children find it genuinely hard to put on weight as they grow. The more you feed them, and the more the shopping bill climbs, the more they seem to burn straight back off. That’s usually nothing to worry about — unless your child simply has no weight to spare in the first place.
This piece from Dr Jacq offers some useful advice if that sounds like your situation. The full, original article can be found at doctorjacq.com.
I hear this at least a few times a week: “My son/daughter needs to gain 5–10 pounds of lean muscle weight — can you help?”
It’s genuinely important for young athletes to eat enough calories. They’re not just playing sport, they’re growing and developing too, and both of those things demand a lot of energy. For some young athletes, even gaining a few pounds can feel like a real struggle, and there’s often added pressure from coaches, trainers, parents and teammates, especially in sports like football, rugby and basketball, where size can feel like it matters.
A few things worth knowing first
Genetics play a real part. Some children are simply built leaner, and tend to be more active outside of sport too. According to Dr Nancy Clark, a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, these children are often naturally “fidgety,’ rarely sitting still, and burning extra calories even when they’re not exercising at all.
Gaining fat is far easier than gaining muscle. Weight on its own matters less than genuine strength and power. That’s what to actually aim for.
Puberty makes a real difference. Building muscle becomes noticeably easier once an athlete has gone through puberty. Before that, the American Academy of Paediatrics recommends focusing on core strength work instead.
Tips for safe, effective weight gain
The three keys here are increased calories, adequate protein, and resistance training.
Eat frequently and consistently. Aim to add roughly 300–400 extra calories a day. Don’t skip meals. Young athletes should be eating every 3–4 hours, with 3 meals and 3–4 snacks daily. Aim for no more than 1–2 pounds of gain per week; faster gains tend to be mostly fat rather than muscle.
Choose healthy, high-calorie foods. Nuts, nut butters, avocado and olive oil are all good options. Switch to 2% milk, and add fruit juice where it helps. See the list below for more ideas.
Get the right amount of protein at the right times. Young athletes need slightly more protein than the average teenager, roughly 1 gram per 2 pounds of body weight. A 150-pound athlete, for example, would be looking at around 75 grams a day, best spread out in smaller amounts of no more than 20–25 grams at a time. Try to include a small amount of protein both before and after exercise.
Add strength training. Lifting weights and bodyweight exercises like push-ups genuinely help here, and exercise itself tends to stimulate appetite, which helps increase overall calorie intake too. Any strength programme should be properly supervised by a coach, trainer or other qualified adult. Sets of 8–15 reps work well for building muscle; sets of 4–6 build strength and power.
Don’t skip rest. Resting between intense sessions (24–48 hours) matters, and so does sleep. It’s during sleep that muscle fibres actually rebuild and repair. Aim for 8–10 hours a night.
Calorie-dense foods and snacks worth having on hand
- Wholewheat bagels and bread
- Oatmeal
- Granola
- Cereals with nuts and granola
- Wholegrain chips
- Muffins
- Nut-based granola bars
- Trail mix
- Peanut or other nut butters
- Avocado, guacamole and wholegrain chips
- Olive oil
- 2% chocolate milk (good post-workout)
- Full-fat yoghurt
- Full-fat cheese
- 100% fruit juice
- Salmon and lean cuts of red meat
