Many people eat too little for much the same reasons which make others eat too much. Habit frequently plays a part. Meals are irregular in some families, sometimes poorly prepared, and eating is considered the least important of the day’s activities. It is not surprising if the children from such families grow up with an indifferent attitude toward food.
Emotions may also play a part. The feeling of being unloved, dissatisfaction with personal relationships, discontent over job, money, or social restrictions, and other reasons of this kind cause some people to react with indifference to eating just as they cause others to overeat. Keen rivalry, a wish to take part in everything, or too great an absorption in school or social activities sometimes cause over-activity and underweight among adolescents.
How to Gain Weight
As in overweight, the first step is to see a physician and have a thorough physical examination. It is important to find and correct anything which may be wrong. Efforts to gain may be useless unless this is done.
The same principles apply to gaining weight as to losing it, but in reverse. Underweight people must take in more calories than they use, so that there will be some left over to store as fat.
Will power can be as great a factor in gaining weight successfully as it is in losing, particularly for people who do not like many of the essential foods. They must learn to say “yes” to enough of the right foods, regardless of their wishes, just as firmly as their fat friends need to say “no” to forbidden extras.
As in overweight, it is important first to include the essential foods in the day’s meals. These foods are necessary for maximum health, whether a person’s weight is too high, too low, or just right. Some underweight individuals whose food choices have been poor may find that they are able to gain merely by making sure that they include these foods in their diet. Others need to study ways to add extra calories.
Adding Extra Calories
The simplest way is to eat more at each meal—extra bread and butter, and second helpings of everything.
Often, however, underweight people seem to have a small stomach capacity. Therefore, additions of high-calorie foods which add little or no bulk are probably easier to take at first than trying to eat larger quantities. Such additions as cream on cereals and in beverages; extra eggs in puddings, salad dressings, and drinks; and butter or other fat used generously in salad dressings, cooking and seasoning should add enough calories to enable most people to gain weight. Also, provided they are added to regular meals and not used to replace them, the high-calorie foods listed on [page 14] should be used freely by anyone trying to gain weight. If they do not interfere with eating enough at regular meals, between-meal snacks also help. So do extra milk and something to eat before going to bed.