Malnourished Even with Excellent Diet

try electrolyte water..and flaxseed oil.. 365 makes a good one that is lemon flavored ..my picky 4 year old likes it..perhaps her body isn't absorbing the food properly and you should take her to see the doc and get some blood work done..

D.

Also, possibly there's a problem with absorption.
That all the right things are going in,
but the mechanisms for processing the nutrients are faulty.
Does she sleep well? Is she cheerful?
Does she have appropriate energy, enthusiasm?
Probably someone(s) here will have some good suggestions for you.

I am curious, how or by whom was your daughter diagnosed as malnourished? Malnutrition is a serious and dangerous diagnosis. Was the diagnosis made by a Medical Doctor, Licensed Nutritionist or Dietary Professional with a University Degree or a Nurse Practitioner at her Doctors office?

Dry and cracked nails are generally seen in the fingernails, not toenails. Dry, cracked fingernails are typically caused by harsh soap, cleaning solvents, excessive filing or buffing of the fingernails. I assume your daughter's feet and toes have not be subjected to the things I listed above in this paragraph.

A frostbite incident could result in weak, dry toenails. There are a few (rare) congenital health conditions, or vitamin deficiencies that cause dry, cracked and weak toenails.

Ask your Family Doctor or Pediatrician about your concerns. In the Doctors office they can do a quick "finger poke" blood test. The test results will indicate if her iron is low (anemia.) or at a normal iron level. Anemia could possibly,cause dry, cracked and weak toenails.

I do wonder if you are worrying about something that is normal. I've raised 2 kids, I've spent a lot of time with my 3 grand kids, plus 18 nephews and nieces as babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. When I think about it they all had thin, uneven and ragged looking toenails. (We had a pool when my kids and their cousins were age 2 and growing up. I've seen a lot of little feet.)

Little kids are very busy and active, they walk on their tip toes, drop toys on their toes. They scrape, drag and bump their little toes all the time. When riding a bike, tricycle or pedal toys etc... they'll drag their feet and bump and thump their feet. Little ones, play and crawl on the floor they drag their feet when they crawl to push their little trucks, cars, or walk their dollies.

It seems to me that our little ones can easily chip or a crack a toe nail with all this activity (even when they are wearing their shoes.)

Best Wishes
A.

there are certain vitamins and nutrients associated with weak nails. i think zinc is one of them. (pecans are a good aource of zince). try to find out online and just try to add more of those things into an already good diet.

HTH. Jilly

Thyroid and other hormonal problems can do that, as well as food sensitivities such as gluten intolerance. My child got osteoporosis! She wasn't absorbing calcium & vitamin D

Get your child a thorough endocrinological checkup as well as blood tests for vitamins and minerals, CBC, etc. And, IgG/IgA food sensitivity testing.

Note that some medical professionals will blow your concerns off and act like you are overreacting but trust your instincts. I wish we had done more. We had one specialist look at our child and say "She looks fine to me." and she had so many problems! http://www.ItsNotMental.com

The food might be great, but if her body has a processing problem, it wouldn't matter. Take her to the doc so different things can be checked. Good luck!

You need to see a doctor. Don't go by body signs alone. There could be any number of medical issues at play here. A pediatrician is the only one who is qualified to tell you what to do with your daughter, especially in this case.

Toddlers' nails are frequently thin and weak. I don't know what you mean by cracked. I've not seen a cracked nail. It would be extremely rare for a child to be malnourished and even more so on a diet such as you describe. I suggest that if she is malnourished that she has a medical condition that prevents her body from utilizing the nutrition.

I suggest that you take her to see a pediatrician or a naturopath and get a professional analysis of her health.

Later: I googled malnourishment symptoms in children to find this article that states that only 1% of children in US are malnourished. It goes on to list symptoms and toenails is not on the list.

What symptoms does your daughter have? If she hasn't been diagnosed by a medical professional I urge you to get an appointment. The nail symptoms could be caused by other conditions or her nails could be within a normal range. With professional help you may find that you needn't be worried..

There are many other sites available but I didn't read them.

JUST her toenails? Or both finger and toenails?

Just toenails is probably a fungal infection.

Both finger and toenails can be a sign of many things. As I'm sure you know nails and hair are almost pure protein, but it's not always a protein deficiency... it can be one of many things. From an absorption issue that the enzymes will help... to worms (esp if it's nails & hair are brittle... super easy fix, 1-3 pills total fixes having worms - esp in this economy many people aren't worming their pets, and no one worms coyotes)... but it could also be 1 of 50 OTHER causes. From liver and kidney problems all the way to just being genetically screwed to having brittle nails (hoof stregthener is the BEST for that btw... you can get it in any tack shop).

Personally, I'd hop by my peds office.

Is she biting her nails? She's not too young to have started that habit, especially the toenails!

Have her thyroid levels been checked? Or her iron?

Hope you discussed the probiotics and enzymes with the dr. Maybe she has celiac? Don't eliminate gluten before consulting the dr...

Sounds like a certain deficiency. I am not sure which one, so I would ask her ped. Merry Christmas!

With a diet such as you describe, it is highly unlikely she is malnourished. Malnutrition is extremely uncommon in America, even with all the junk food many people eat. Also, she eats meat, so it's not likely protein deficiency.

Ann gave you good advice, and I think that if her toenails are the only problem, and everything else about her seems healthy, then there's probably nothing wrong with her. But an endocrine workup might be something to try.

I'd take her to a endochronologist, GI doc and/or an allergist. May be some kind of metabolicor digestive issues.

Good luck!

Maybe she just needs more extra calories and fat in babe's diet. Try some nutrition shakes for little ones. Think Pedialite makes one in flavors of vanilla, and chocolate. See if that helps any if it does then maybe they just need extra fats to keep up with them.
Might just have a faster motabalism then some.

Sounds like an allergy. My cousin is allergic to gluten and that is what he looked like before they figured it out.

You can do blood tests to test magnesium, calcium, ionized calcium, vitamin D, zinc, etc. You can also do blood tests to show if she has IgE food allergies or IgG food intolerances.

She could be eating well but not really absorbing the nutrients. I start my clients on this www.BestBreakfastEver.com.

B.
Family Success Coach

Why are you giving a healthy 3.5 year old with a healthy, balanced diet probiotics and digestive enzmnes????????????? Maybe they are the problem? Too much for a small child?????? I would get her into a pediatrician and then possibly a nutritionist. Things that are healthy for an adult are not necessarily healthy for young children -- I had a friend who had her 2 year old on a very low-fat diet, as a result of the diet the child developed uncontrollable diahrea and almost died.

so far you have been doing great job "fishing" for her - giving her body what is lacking. your ultimate goal is to teach the body to "fish" for itself. you'd have to look into classical homeopathy to do that.
Good luck!
V