Need to help my 7 YO gain weight

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

DH, DS (10) and I are all overweight. In truth, at least the adults are obese and probably DS is close. But 7 YO DD is underweight and dropping fast. I know I'm not objective about body image, but I look at her and see "concentration camp victim" sorts of images. Objectively she is 47 inches tall and 35-38 pounds.

She has always been thin, but has lost weight since starting ADHD medications. Going off of the medication is NOT an option and so far we've tried 4 and they all have the side effect of suppressing her appetite and her dr. says that probably they all will, so changing meds isn't really an option either.

She's not a picky eater -- she'll eat anything. But only a few bites and then she is "full". So my strategy is to get as many calories per bite into her as I can. Problem is, I know all about low fat, low calorie eating (I don't often do it, but I do know what I should be doing). Do any of you wiser-than-I food types have suggestions for how to increase her calorie intake without totally causing the rest of us to turn into whales?

We generally eat both breakfast and dinner together as a family, so I don't want to cook totally high-fat meals, I think I need to either add specific snacks for her or add things to her plate but not for the rest of us. We don't do a lot of processed foods. She is not at all hungry during the day and rarely touches more than the fruit in her lunch. She does get hungry between about 5 and 9 PM. Suggestions?

[Alyantavid]

Everyone needs fat, even people who are overweight. So that's an easy change you can make for the whole family that will greatly benefit her. I'm not talking deep frying everything in Crisco though.

I'd have snacks that are easy for her to get to all the time. Hardboiled eggs, cheese cubes, meatballs, anything she can just grab when she feels a little hungry. Hummus is good and you add olive oil and tahini.

What kinds of things do you eat? We fattify (real word ) those.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

We've always been a "free snacking" family, so they have access to anything in the house and are free to help themselves at any time. On the pantry "snack shelf" at the moment there are veggie chips, trail mix, fruit rolls (the 100% real fruit ones), granola bars, PB, fruit cups, apple sauce cups, apples, nectarines, crackers and pretzels. There is also shaved chocolate since she likes hot chocolate and I figure that is a good thing for her to eat. In the fridge in the snacks area there is cheese, hummus, ham and salami, grapes, cherries, mango (sliced), carrot sticks, cucumber rounds and jicama sticks. So lots of choices, she just doesn't want them very often.

For breakfast this morning I served quiche. She ate two bites -- and this was BEFORE she took her meds. We generally rotate between quiche, cereal, toast, waffles, pancakes and scrambled eggs. Weekends I add bacon, sausage or ham steak but don't have time on school mornings. She gets OJ and hot chocolate. Dinners are usually some sort of grilled meat, a starch and veggies. I don't generally put butter on the table because I love it and don't need it. We don't do a lot of dairy because DS is lactose intolerant. She gets dessert most nights -- often ice cream or something else frozen.

So there are lots of good choices (for her), she just doesn't seem to want to eat much of anything. And I guess I haven't figured out how to say "please put the carrots away and eat cheese and salami instead".