How much does your 12yr old DS eat?

[Bizkit]

And what do they typically eat in a day?

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Youngest DS is now 13 but even at 12 would basically eat an adult diet....and then some.

He is however approaching 6 foot tall so needs it.

Typical weekday

Breakfast:
Huge bowl of Cereal or Porridge with milk
Glass of fruit juice or smoothie
Slice of toast or half a bagel.

Lunch:
2 slice sandwich with Tuna & sweetcorn Mayo or Cheese etc
Couple of satsumas and 1 other fruit/veg e.g Grapes, Carrot sticks or something else portable
A couple of chicken drumsticks or some mini sausage rolls or cheese & biscuits
A biscuit/bit of chocolate/granola bar
Bottle of Water

Home from school:
Glass of Milk
Apple/banana
Packet of crisps or something else snacky

Dinner:
Spag Bol
side salad
Garlic Bread
Water/squash

Supper:
Pudding and custard or doughnut or similar
Glass of Milk

He would eat more if given free reign. He isn't overweight but is a big solid lad would pass for 16 easily and currently wears a 42 inch chest blazer!

[Bizkit]

Wow that is alot thanks for the response, my son has just turned 12, he is very small for his age and I'm worried he isn't eating enough, he never complains he is hungry but doesn't eat much more than his 8yr old sister really, I find getting the balance between eating enough and eating healthy the challenge, he is quite fussy when it comes to fruit and veg, and I'm really trying to cut down our sugar intake, and am also on quite a tight budget as a newly single parent.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Sorry to hear that :( My food bill is horrendous but you read on here that people seem to be able to fill a family of four for £20 a week - i must be doing something wrong!

I have a friend in a similar boat and her DS isn't growing well basically because he isn't eating enough :( her DS isn't a snacker either which doesn't help.

I think you have to get as many calories in the smallest of portions so you need to be going for the highest fat options you can - whole milk, full fat mayo etc. Crabs in this case are also good.

mine are quite fussy too and veg is a real issue with my elder son but fruit not a problem. Unfortunately fruit tends to be more expensive than veg if you are on a budget.

Eggs are pretty good if he would have those and you can't go wrong with cheese.

Are you able to cook/bake? Things like banana bread/muffins etc will be reasonably healthy, don't tend to have much added sugar and quite calorific.

Does he get much exercise to help build up an appetite?

[Dancergirl]

I have a dd not a ds but she is also 12 and I also worry she isn't eating enough. She is short for her age but not skinny. She eats like a bird, has a tiny appetite and quite a limited diet due to dyspraxia and sensory issues.

She seems healthy though and is rarely ill. Does diet really affect children's growth? I thought it was very much in the genes.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

dancergirl - absolutely! Growth potential is determined by genes, but the ability to meet that potential is effected by other things such as diet & lifestyle and health.

So, your child should roughly follow the growth centiles at whatever point his/her genetic makeup determines. In my friends case, although her OH is probably average height for a man and she is just under average height for a woman, her DS is barely meeting the lowest centile and is losing weight rather than gaining it. His not yet 7 year old sister who has a better appetite is average or slightly above for her age.

You also interestingly get those children in a class who tend to be overweight and are generally taller than their classmates - their bodies have been overfed and often they tend not to increase that much in height during puberty as they wont really go past their growth potential but their bodies have used the extra food capacity to grow taller at a younger age than they should have if that makes sense?

So, the reason that my boys are very tall is mostly due to their genetic makeup, luckily they will meet that potential as they eat well and have a mostly good lifestyle (as far as you can expect with a teen boy anyway). They have pretty much always been tall and followed the top of the centile chart. DS2 was actually on the average line at 18 months but was on the top line by age 4 and followed that ever since.

[Dancergirl]

Thanks onemagnum, interestingly my younger dd who is 8 has a much bigger appetite and seems to be one of the taller ones in her class.

What can I do to enourage dd2's appetite? I do worry about her.

[dementedma]

Ds is 13 and his appetite has settled a bit from when he was 11 or 12 when he was constantly "starving". Still eats a lot though. Every time there is a growth spurt he turns into a locust.
He is overweight though, so we are trying to have healthy options and more exercise to combat the need to munch.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Dancer I'm not sure tbh - it's never a problem I've had, some people just aren't food motivated and just see it as fuel and nothing else....none of them live in my house!

Does she get fresh air and exercise in order to get hungry? Could you get her involved in shopping/cooking as much as possible? Other than that, I think you just need to make each meal as calorific as you can without it just being sugar. i.e. proper butter not low fat spread, full fat mayo, full fat milk. Could you subtly increase portion size? i.e. buy thick cut bread rather than medium so that she still thinks she is eating one slice or one sandwich but there is more carbs in it? pop an extra bit into her lunch such as a couple of cheese cubes or a yoghurt if you can, things like nuts can be quite calorific without bulk.

[Zanzibaragain]

bizkit in the last two weeks I have had to face up to the realisation that my Ds 10 is dangerously underweight.

He is very, very tall for his age, but although he has got taller he hasn't put on any weight.
He has a BMI of 12, blood tests have come back clear so now getting a referral to an Eating Clinic.

Oh what I have learnt about in these last two weeks!
99% of information about Eating disorders is for girls.
But boys have eating disorders.

All I am sure about is that if my Dd was as thin/ skinny as my Ds has become I would have been to the dr weeks/ months earlier.
Family, friends, even the school would have been straight onto the problem a lot, a lot sooner.

[Lottieismydog]

Bizkit
My DS 11 has very poor appetite and has always been a picky eater. It's hard but I always try to make sure he has as much balance as I can, keep it simple, food wise, I try to do chicken tuna cheese etc in healthy ways which seems boring to repeat - but when I hit on something he likes - he seems to enjoy it and does not think it's boring. He likes baked potatoes and cheese, bakes beans, tuna sandwiches, plain Chicken pieces thigh or breast grilled with garlic butter, home made chicken goujons and new dicovery small pieces of steak grilled plain. It's not too expensive as there's no waste. Plus he likes milk, which is helpful too.
I just keep hoping that as he starts the next growth spurt he will up his intake. Do you think your DS in underweight? Mine is not underweight but I do keep an eye on him. If you think he might be then perhaps talk to your GP or school nurse. Good luck.

Zanzibaragain, sending you some good wishes, I hope your DC is now getting the support he needs, and you too.??

[Lottieismydog]

• baked beans

[Dancergirl]

I do use proper butter and full fat cheese etc but the thing with my dd is that she is not underweight she's just short. Height and weight were checked in Year 6 and they said her weight is within normal limits, but her height centile is much lower than her weight centile.

Should I be worried?

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Has she followed her line up until now? could be that she is just later hitting puberty, or maybe she just isn't meant to be tall?

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

I shouldn't think it's anything to worry to worry about or they would haave said.