Power packing is a common nutrition intervention used for pediatric patients with poor growth

Question

What is "power packing" and why might this be a useful nutrition intervention for this patient? Based on Olivia's 24 hour recall, what are specific power packing suggestions you could offer the patient?

Answer 1

• Power packing is the process of making foods and beverages more calorically dense without significantly increasing the amount. Some examples include powdered nonfat milk, vegetable oil, butter, , mayonnaise, cheese, peanut butter, and wheat germ.
• This might be a useful intervention for Olivia due to the difficulty she has consuming larger portions within a shorter time frame and the observed decline on her weight-for-age and BMI-for-age curves.
• Suggestions for Olivia include:
- Using butter or oil to cook her scrambled egg or to add to cooked vegetables
- Consuming whole milk instead of 1% milk
- Adding 2 tbsp cream or 1 pkt Carnation Instant Breakfast to her milk
- Adding powdered milk to her yogurt
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- Adding more cinnamon sugar to her apple sauce
- Adding cheese to the rice and black bean casserole
• It should also be noted that calorically dense products are often high in fat. Because Olivia is taking medication for GERD and a higher fat diet may exacerbate these GI symptoms, her tolerance to power packing should be monitored.