Question

I am a 15 year old boy and I am about 6 foot tall and weigh about 160 pounds and I am wondering what is the best way to put on more weight. Also, right now I am taking Weight Gainer and I would like to know if there is anything else that would be safe for me to take?

Answer

The best way to gain weight is with food, not supplements. When a healthy person cannot gain weight it is usually because their calorie needs are very high and they don't realize the large amount of food needed to meet this requirement. High calorie needs may be related to growth spurts and high activity level. The high activity level doesn't necessarily mean a person is very active in sports. Some people just move a lot all day long, from wiggling constantly in their seats at school or work, to enthusiastically bounding up the steps to catch up with friends. I call that "the fidget factor". First I calculate calorie needs and then add an activity factor. That activity factor looks at motion throughout the day, not just when a person "exercises". The activity factor includes what a person tells me about their daily routine and observation. If I drop a pencil and they jump up, pick it up, hand it to me and bounce back into the chair, they are burning more calories all day then the person who looks at the pencil, thinks about picking it up, then slowly bends over and picks it up. An active 15-year old can have a calorie need that exceeds 3,000 calories a day.

Eating three times a day may not be enough because it means each meal has to be at least 1,000 calories to meet needs. Many times 3 meals and at least 3 snacks are necessary to meet calorie needs. Excellent snacks to encourage weight gain include any type of nuts, milkshakes, fruit shakes, peanut butter sandwiches, crackers with cheese, and gorp (which are mixures of cereal, dried fruit and nuts).

Links

• Tips for Gaining Weight
• Dr Irene's Nutrition Tidbits