D T MacAULAY wrote:
>
> My five year old daughter is asthmatic and allergic to milk,eggs and
> most nuts. A nutritionist told me that a child this age should be
> getting thirty percent of her calorie intake from fats. I am certain
> doesn't get close to this amount.  So far she has hated every soy and
> rice beverage we've tried, however I do bake with them.  I also add
> extra canola oil to my waffles and pancakes.  I would appreciate any
> suggestions for healthy fat sources.
>
> Darlene
Darlene,  My milk allergic son, now 2 1/2, was severely underweight,
after having been in the 95th percentile at 6 months.  Even after he was
diagnosed with the milk allergy, and we did the research to eliminate
the "hiiden" offending foods, he did not gain weight.  As you, we found
it difficult to find foods with enough healthy fat that he would eat.
We also suspect that after so many months of being gassy and sick, he
was not able to absorb the calories properly, but even more difficult
than that with a young child, we think he had learned negative
associations with food!  Can you imagine ALWAYS feeling ill after you
ate, due to unsuspecting parents feeding you the wrong things!?

How to introduce calorie-rich foods that his body could assimilate???

It took a lot of work, but we started with the things he would accept,
and added very small amounts of the foods we wanted him to eat.  With
the milk alternative beverages (soy, rice) we added small (really small)
but increasing amounts to the juice he would drink.  (By the way, it
seems impossible to find the full-fat soy drinks that used to be
available...anyone know of any?). We added minute amounts of nut butters
(obviously this would not work for you, with the nut difficulty) to
breads that were safe for him.  After one whole year of doing this
consistently, he now loves these, and we are trying to move him from
peanut butter to almond butter...a healthier choice, as I understand
it.  But you could add safe margarines and oils to many foods.  Aaron
rejected these at first...he appeared not to like the "slimy" feel of
even small amounts of added oils, but as I said, we just backed up to
very minute amounts, and added as he would allow it.  We threw away a
lot of food if I got too heavy-handed with the oils.
Foods we have been able to add extra oil to successfully:  pastas, rice,
soups, pancakes (as you do), popcorn, tofu pizza ( I brush the crust
with oil, and heat it for a moment in the oven before I add the tofu
cheese and sauce...nice flavor).  I also add extra oil to baked goods
(substituting a bit of the liquid...carefully, though...some recipes
don't allow for this...more experimenting and some failures for the
compost heap).

Olive oil is a recommended one, but he didn't like the taste, so we
found a nice canola/olive blend that he accepts better.  Our homeopathic
physician (a great resource and support in this struggle) discussed the
benefits of flax oil as a really good and absorbable oil, added to foods
in very small amounts (bad taste).  And he stressed the importance of
not falling into the trap of feeding him too many high fat foods with
processed and hydrogenated fats...these bring up other problems.  One of
our first successes was (and I couldn't BELIEVE I was feeding this to my
child) chips!  Some of the better brands, found in the health aisles,
use real oils.

Often, if we were having broiled chicken for supper, I would saute his
in oil instead.

He refused frozen treats, such as tofutti.  So we would make a big
family activity of eating "ice cream cones" (there are Parve cones!)
together, oohing and ahhing over our luscious treat.  At first, he would
only take a taste or two, and apply the rest to himself and the chair.
slowly but surely, he came to enjoy this, too, and now asks for "'futti,
please" when he has the opportunity for a dessert.
Slowly but surely, he has improved, and begun to absorb the calories and
nutrients more fully, and he also has become a voracious eater.
During the first few months of this time of experimenting and trying
different oils on things, he still had not gained any weight.  Now, my
husband and I and our other son, however, were filling out quite nicely
on his rejects!  UGH!

Now, a year later, Aaron is back on the growth charts, and last week, my
husband came home from work and peeked in to see the boys as they
watched a videotaped episode of Mr Rogers (our family hero), and came
into the kitchen with an amazed look on his face.  "Aaron looks like
he's porked out!", he exclaimed.  His face and frame are fuller, and he
has lots of energy.  Even some previous developmental concerns have
evaporated with his improved ability to assimilate the food he eats,
especially the fats.

This is long, and now as I read it over, a bit ramble-y, but I hope it
helps.  Good luck.  Feel free to email me directly if you have questions
about our recipes or strategies.        Dale Robin Lockman