AIBU to let them eat when they're hungry????

[happylittlefish]

Basically, have 4 teens - all terribly thin with massive appetites! Cant satisfy them! Friend came over today and spent the whole day here. Only had the 14 yo here (others were out) and friend feels the need to tell me that I shouldn't let him keep eating because its 'too much'. This really upset ds - he already has body image issues which he's overcoming. He's really thin but always hungry. This is what he's had today:

4 Weetabix, cup of milk, banana
Apple, grapes, flapjack
Chicken sandwich, crisps, cucumber sticks, babybel, yogurt, pepperami, cereal bar
Slice of toast with peanut butter, cup of milk, strawberries
HM spaghetti Bolognese (big portion), salad
Grapes, mini cookie pack, cup of tea, some sweeties, raspberries

This is typical. Friend - I felt - was really rude. She mentioned 'cutting down his intake'!!

Is this a normal amount for a 14year old?? What do your pre teens/teens eat in a day? Are they all so thin?

[whatamidoinghereanyway]

Yes it's normal and yes mine are thin...there's room for more there IMO tell your friend to butt out!

[RosieandJim89]

To be fair my 3 year old doesn't eat much less.
He is a growing boy. As long as he isn't eating 4 bags of crisps and 6 chocolate bars I don't see the problem.

[Mrsbird311]

My son is 15 and eats more than that and he is very slim, always hungry, doesn't eat too much rubbish but can eat what he likes, plays tons of tennis etc
Your friend is mad who is she the food police??

[DramaAlpaca]

Completely normal. My three boys were all skinny teenagers with hollow legs and heads constantly in the fridge, especially at 14.

[happylittlefish]

Thank god I'm not the only one! Her ds is 15 and a really light eater. His day would go:

Small bowl coco pops
Sandwich, crisps, satsuma
Tea

Thats it, so she feels the need to tell me how to parent based on her ds. She often tells me my ds will be obese when he's older!! (the cheek!)

I do find it unbelievable how much he can pack away though! My 12 yo dd is exactly the same!!

Can anyone list what their older kids/teens have eaten today just to compare??

[Patterkiller]

I hate when adults comment on growing teens food intake.

As adults we eat to maintain but at that age it's compared to us growing to ten foot tall in 18 months. See how hungry she would be then!

[Wolfiefan]

That is rather a lot of food. Especially at mealtimes. (I have a 13 year old DS).
4 weetabix is loads.
Crisps and babybel and pepperami and cereal bar. I would only offer one of those. And cereal bars very sugary so can cause a sugar crash (ditto fruit and flapjack)
Cookies and sweets. Why both?
Reduce the sugar and up the protein?carbs and sugar won't fill him up.
Is he very sporty?

[NickyEds]

My nephew is 16 and eats an enormous amount of food. I have never seen a person eat like him! My dad has been staying with them after an operation and we were discussing it with my sister yesterday. Apparently he will easily get through:
4 weetabix and a pint of milk, slice or two of toast
He takes a t upper ware full of fruit to school, so 2 apples, 2 oranges and 2 bananas alongside 2 large sandwiches
He makes himself a "snack" when he gets in from school. This can be a 4 egg ham and cheese omelette, a toastie....plus another pint if milk
Family meal
Cereal for supper.

When his older brother is at home from uni they will eat a leaf of bread, a four pack of baked beans and 4 pints of milk for their lunch. I just don't know where they put it and am secretly terrified of the food bill when mine are that age!.

[Mrsbird311]

Yep my boy had sausage sandwich , juice, cup of tea, toasted mozzarella and tomato sandwich , Costa coffee, soup, steak and salad, cheese and biscuits , ice cream, hot choc, spaghetti bolognese, mini brussetta, nectarines, raspberry a, blueberrys, banana and will prob be on the hunt for food about 10 pm, he is skinny but strong, think Andy Murray type build, honestly they need the fuel

[NickyEds]

I should also say that both nephews are over 6 foot and do loads of sport.

[TheDuchyOfGrandFenwick]

Wow, I think that is quite alot of food. Do as pp said and cut down on sugar, replacing with protein and veg.

[PPie10]

I too think that was a massive amount of food, I wouldn't have said anything though.

[happylittlefish]

Yes, ds is unbelievably sporty!! Done cross country, 2 hours footy and 1 hour swimming today! I have to admit, he usually has more protein & veg, though shopping is coming tomorrow and today was a 'empty the cupboards and fridge ' kind of day. Yesterday was better:

Big bowl porridge, raisins, banana
Piece toast with peanut butter, apple, grapes
Cheese sandwich, yogurt, carrot sticks, Ritz crackers, pieces of chicken, flapjack
Some more carrot sticks and hummus to dip
Chicken fillet, wholegrain rice, broccoli, salad
Bowl of shreddies

If he ate any less he'd be so thin you wouldn't be able to see him!!

[janethegirl2]

Is it worth worming him? Serious comment.

[peachpudding]

You're doing the right thing.
My DS was small as a baby, experts even put him on a medical high calorie diet, it only made him vomit. Now he just can't eat enough but is still under weight. It might be unusual but some kids just eat lots but are naturally very thin. How rare it is I have no idea but its ok it is natural. I stopped worrying a decade ago
Other do find it abnormal, because it is, don't think they are rude it is unusual to see and many don't even believe it.

[peachpudding]

It not a genetic 'condition'. But maybe an unusual genetic combination, certainly didn't get it from his parents lol.

[Kim82]

Sounds pretty normal to me. My dd is one month off turning 15 and today he has eaten:

Breakfast - 4 weetabix

At break at school - 2 pieces of toast

Lunch - ham wrap, packet of crisps, small block of cheese, two satsumas, cereal bar

Snack when home from school - toasted bagel with cream cheese

Dinner - slow cooked pork with chips, peas and broccoli

Dessert - yoghurt and a banana

He will probably have another bowl of cereal or some more toast before he goes to bed.

He also went to the shop around 8pm but I've no idea what he bought, I'm assuming it was chocolate of some description. He does that around 3-4 times a week.

There isn't an ounce of fat on him, he's pretty active and muscly so he obviously needs the calories.

My stomach would explode if I ate the quantities of food that he does!

[unlucky83]

Four weetabix - is that four genuine weetabix or 4 'rip off' weetabix?
A bugbear of mine - lots of 'wheat biscuits' aren't as dense as real weetabix...my 4 yo had started eating 3....
Got genuine ones from the local shop in an 'emergency' and she only wanted 2 - now at 9 still has two - figured it was a false economy to get the fake ones (personally I wish they sold them by weight rather than biscuit so you can really compare ....especially cos I recently got some 50% extra free real ones and they seemed less dense... )
Yes I know I have issues -just one of those minor irritations in life...I am becoming a grumpy old woman...

[Squiff85]

my kids eat similar, smaller portions obviously, (age 5&8) so no, sounds normal to me :)

[1stWorldProblems]

Sounds perfectly normal to me - teenagers, esp sporty boys are eating machines. My parents godson (who admittedly cycles stupid distances for fun) once ate an entire box of weetabix with 8 pints of milk for breakfast, went for a 2 hour cycle and came back to eat an normal lunch. Combine a massive growth spurt with sport & you have ravenous monsters. (Personally I only really began to understand that level of hunger when breast-feeding!) Tell her every child is different.

[SovietKitsch]

Who are these people who remember what their kids have eaten all day?! am I just a bad parent?

[mumtomaxwell]

Nothing useful to add.... I'm just shitting myself about the teenage years! My food bill is massive now and I have 3 dc aged between 3&8.... Better get saving!!!

[grumpysquash3]

OP I think it sounds fine. It would sound loads if you were describing your daily food (or that of many adults) but teens are a law unto themselves. My DS (15) doesn't eat that much now but did a year ago; DD (13) is close, definitely in the middle of a growth spurt.
If they're hungry, feed them. TBH I think the risks of obesity (not that I think your DS is at risk at all) would be greater if food was limited or restricted. Just let them know what they're allowed to help themselves to. Job done!

[Damselindestress]

Tell your friend to butt out! What was she thinking criticising a teenager's eating habits in front of him?! They can be so sensitive and self conscious at that age. If she was concerned she could have had a private word with you but she was very rude and inconsiderate to say it in front of him. I don't think there is anything wrong with what he is eating, it's not junk, he's eating lots of fruit and veg and he's not overweight so he's obviously burning it off.