7 Foods to Boost Weight Gain in Toddlers — Milk, Paratha, Halwa, Peanut Butter, Egg, Banana and Ghee

Dr. Sandip Gupta

This video covers seven food items that, if given regularly, show improvement in a child's weight within a few months. 1. Full cream cow milk, upgraded. Give full fat/whole cow milk (3.8 g fat per litre) rather than toned milk, since fat is important for brain and body growth. Turn it into a milkshake by adding banana or mango, and sweeten naturally with honey or raisin purée. To further boost calories and nutrients, mix in dry-roasted nuts powder or peanut butter (if there is no nut allergy). The same idea works with curd — make a fruit lassi with banana, mango, chikoo or avocado, sweetened with honey or raisin purée. 2. Paratha instead of plain roti. Make it in ghee and stuff it with potato, paneer, cheese, cabbage or peas — this raises the nutrient content, tastes better, and children enjoy it more than plain roti. Different shapes make it more attractive to children. Add a little extra ghee on top for softness, calories and good fat. 3. Sweet halwa. Made from atta, suji or besan, cooked in ghee, and using whole/full fat milk instead of water — this raises the nutrient content. Add dry-roasted nuts powder for more calories, fat and protein, and sweeten with honey or raisin purée. Choking safety note (relevant to items 1–4): For children aged 1 to 3, teeth have come but chewing is not yet good, so food for a child who has just completed 1 year must be in paste form with no solid particles — no seeds or nut particles that could get stuck in the throat. 4. Peanut butter (or other nut butters — cashew, almond). Mix and mash it with roti or bread; make a banana-peanut-butter smoothie or a milk-peanut-butter smoothie, sweetened naturally with honey, dates or raisins. It is fat-rich and protein-rich and helps weight gain well. Nut/peanut allergy precaution: The first time you give any nut or nut butter, give a very small amount and observe the child for 48 hours for rash, vomiting, loose motions or breathing difficulty, since nut allergy is one of the most common food allergies. Always give smooth nut butter to children under 5, with no chunks or particles, since particles can get stuck in the throat and cause choking — check it with your own hand first. Nuts should never be given as whole pieces to children under 5, only in powder form. 5. Egg. Very good for children's health — good amount of vitamin D and about 6 grams of protein, meeting 50% or more of the daily protein requirement for a 1–3 year old, plus many vitamins. Egg can be given boiled, as an omelette, or as a curry, depending on the child's preference. A child above 1 year can eat a full egg; a child above 2 can have one and a half or more eggs a day if there is no problem. Like nuts, egg can cause allergy — start with the yolk for 15–20 days to a month before introducing the white, since the white has more protein and more allergy risk while the yolk has more fat and less allergy risk. If there is no egg allergy, egg can be given daily. Families that don't eat egg can substitute cheese, paneer, curd and various dals regularly to meet protein needs — not eating egg does not mean a child's growth will suffer, as long as the same protein comes from vegetarian sources. 6. Banana. Ripe banana is usually well accepted even by children who otherwise eat very little, because it's sweet and easy for them to hold and bite. It can be given plain, in a fruit salad, mixed into milk, or made into malpua with atta. Banana has many good nutrients and helps a lot with weight gain. 7. Ghee and olive oil — good fat sources. Carbohydrate and protein give 4 kcal per gram, while fat gives 9 kcal per gram, which matters a lot for children because their stomachs are small and portion sizes are limited — fat lets you pack more calories into a small amount of food. Fat is important for rapid brain growth in the first two years and for height and weight gain. Unlike adults who are not growing and need less fat, children need it included in their diet. Use ghee and olive oil in cooking and as toppings — it also improves the taste of the food. Relevant for: parents whose child is underweight or gaining weight slowly and want food-based ways to help; parents asking how to enrich cow milk, curd or lassi for weight gain; parents looking for paratha stuffing ideas and halwa recipes to add calories; parents asking how to introduce peanut butter or nut butters safely and check for allergy; parents asking when to give egg yolk vs white and how much egg per day; parents whose child won't eat much but likes banana; parents asking why fat matters in a toddler's diet and how much ghee to use; and vegetarian or egg-free families looking for protein alternatives. Disclaimer: This video is for general information and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every child is different — please consult your pediatrician before introducing nuts, peanut butter, or eggs to your child, especially if there is a family history of allergy, and always supervise for choking with any nut or seed-based food.