Q: My one year and 3 months old daughter is underweight. Her birth weight was 3.37 kg. Her present weight is only 8.7 kg. Her present diet is one or one and a half idly, one chapathi or dosa early in the morning; two or three cashew nuts after an hour. A small banana at noon. Rice with juice for lunch. Chapathi or a dosa for evening snack and rice with or without juice for dinner. I feel that she is not gaining weight according to her food intake. Her mother is suffering from hypothyroidism. My daughter's blood was tested at 3 months and the thyroid was functioning well. When I consulted the doctor, he said that there is nothing to worry. Should I be worried? What can be done to increase her weight?

A:There really isn't anything to worry. The food intake of the child has to simply depend on her likes and dislikes. There may be parts of the diet, which she does not appreciate and may be she is being nagged into eating. Too much nagging leads to loss of appetite in children. More so, they need new ness in food, as they get very bored of routine foods. Increase the quantity of the current foods given to her, only slowly. Also inculcate whole grains, bran, dalia in the diet. Introduce other dry fruits also like almonds, etc and make sure that she enjoys eating whatever little amount she eats. She may be a slow gainer of weight. Enquire with the paediatrician for the need of an appetiser. It may help.