How do you stop a teenager eating bucketloads of sweets?

I agree with this my 17 year old had more of a sweet tooth even a year ago. If DS wants a sweet thing he will buy it with his own money, like if he wants a Burger or some other rubbish. Do people really control older teens in this way, I find that bizarre. My youngest is 13 and is super health conscious and I wish she would relax a bit about it.

Don't have it in the house, mine got pocket money by bank transfer and didn't take it to school

Most teens want money for things like socialising, buying each other presents and buying random things that they want but don't need (which in my DD's case was unfeasible looking tops from Primark and makeup).

Yes, they can ask for money specifically every time they want something, but this isn't necessarily practical and doesn't help them learn the value of money or budget. And part of giving teens their own money is so they can learn from potentially "bad" decisions in a safe way.

Not to mention that a lot of teen socialising is "hanging out" with sweets/fizzy drinks/junk food. Do you really want to exclude them from all this?

I would stop giving pocket money.
You said he "needs it" but for what?
Clothes and toiletries should be provided by you.
If he needs bus fares then get a travel card/season ticket so he doesn't need cash for the bus (which again shouldn't be out of pocket money anyway).
What does he actually need the money for?
No money..... can't spend it on sweets.

I think they outgrow it often. DS ate shitloads of crap, but now at 19 doesn't seem that interested in eating sweets. I offered him a Magnum icecream at the weekend, on a lovely sunny day and he declined, saying he wasn't hungry, which really surprised me and it dawned on me then that he'd stopped the constant eating of sweets and rubbish.

(I wasn't hungry either, but I had the Magnum)

Source please!!

My kids are aged 6-13.
Even the 13 year old asks permission for snacks. It's the done thing in our house.
If we let DD13 have pocket money, god knows what she'd spend it on.

How old are your children? I think teens get to an age where it's important for them to have some autonomy over spending their own money, rather than having to ask their parents every time.

We don't give the kids pocket money.
We always make sure there are plenty of sweets and crisps in the house. But they can't have any snacks unless they ask for permission first.
I find kids are more likely to smuggle sweets and crisps if you try to limit the amount of treats you buy, so if you make sure they're always there, your kids will be more sensible around them and not rush to eat them all up

ample research studies on this. This is mainstream science. well established that artificial sweeteners contribute to obesity and T2 diabetes as much as sugar. I am always surprised on MN when people don't seem to know this. Goes alongside the old wives tales of honey and fructose somehow being better for you that table sugar - no, it is a lot worse.

Protein with every meal could help stop the cravings.

Is the eating boredom, emotional or hunger driven?

It’s interesting your response @drspouse as it feels like this is an under researched area. I was like this as a kid and grew into an overweight but really active kid. My siblings weren’t and stayed slim all their lives. Now fast forward my first child ate normally left food is now a teen very fit and healthy weight. My DD ASD & uAdhd youngest is a sugar seeking demon I tried the relaxed approach to access of sweet food as DD1 & DH not bothered but DD2 hit 10-11 and boom suddenly she’d happily eat 6 kitkats in a row if given access! Definitely 100% hormonal related and dopamine seeking. Luckily she’s still slim but I have to hide sweet treats and even then she’ll find them! It’s not an easy parenting fix at all when you have a child seeking this level of sugar fix despite years of heathy eating just seems to go boom when the growing hormones kick in. I’ve upped her intake of protein, veg and whole carbs where possible but it’s not easy!

I think you just have to leave them to it. DS at 14 grazed through bucket loads of stuff (until his money ran out). At 20, it's more of an occasional thing. It's like he's worked it through his system. Plus he's realised he has more exciting things to spend his money on.

My experience of children with heavy restrictions is that you just move the issue down the road, as they then go mad as young adults once they are out of parental control. Or they eat sweets in secret, which isn't great either.

Is it having an impact on their health?

Looking back I feel I ate quite a lot of sweets as a teen, and fizzy drinks although the latter less so. I had my own money and it was normal then for groups of us to go to local shops after school and buy sweets and pop! I certainly have a lot less of them these days as an adult.

Having said that all, my teeth were fine - I got my first filling at 19 and that was due to an impacted wisdom tooth. I was also never overweight (actually was often a little underweight as a teen) and I never drank caffeinated drinks in the few hours before bed as I already knew not to, so it didn't affect my sleep. If my DPs had told me to eat less sweets I would probably have been annoyed and doubt I would have paid attention to them. And tbh they probably didn't know how much I was eating as would often have finished them by the time I got home!

So I think apart from ensuring they know healthy options you don't need to worry too much unless there are demonstrable health impacts already. I grew out of it.

I just checked and there isn't, but see my link/explanation.

(I actually just answered my own question by doing a quick Google Scholar search:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/association-between-sugarsweetened-and-artificially-sweetened-soft-drinks-and-type-2-diabetes-systematic-review-and-doseresponse-metaanalysis-of-prospective-studies/C69825BDE14CE0DE9AB7FF2026D18D1B

Sugar sweetened drinks seem to affect T2 by making you heavier.
There isn't a clear link between diet drinks and T2 so any link might be either because a) you switch to them after you have T2 or think you might have it or b) if you are the type of person who drinks a lot of fizzy drinks you may not take enough exercise, may eat poorly otherwise, or something else that causes an increase risk of T2)

@alloweraoway

what is your source for sweeteners causing the same insulin surge as sugar does?

I don't know op, but if you succeed I'd love to know how you do it! 13yo ds has been brought up in a healthy eating household, fruit and veg in plentiful supply, knows about healthy eating habits etc. But he gets a monthly allowance, out of which comes his bus fare. The amount he spends on sweet stuff is horrendous. As a pp said though, he has adhd and I suspect this is how he gets his dopamine hit. He also chews a lot of chewing gum, which drives me mad. I hate it. He has been told off by his dentist for poor teeth brushing, but is not overweight.

Any research studies on this? On the chemical in Coke Zero that causes it?
Or are you just quoting Dr Google?

We've said we will double any savings from pocket money at the end of the year which reduces frittering.

coke zero is really bad for children, even without caffeine,

artificial sweeteners are just as bad for weight gain and likelihood of t2 diabetes as sugar is, because they cause exactly the same insulin surge as sugar does

We don't have any rules about sweet stuff in our house, but then none of us are sweet fiends

Teenagers already know that.

Are your teenagers overweight? Do they have dental problems?

If not, then I wouldn't worry about it. It's sugar, not heroin. It's not ideal but it's unlikely to cause any kind of long-term problem for them, really. And most teenagers really do grow out of it.

I think a lot of it is just them exercising a bit of control over their own choices, testing out making unhealthy choices just because they can. That's a pretty natural part of being a teenager and although it's annoying for parents, it's probably better that they're eating a family pack of Skittles every day than vaping or something!