to think this is a perfectly good sized lunch?

How could a five year old possibly eat more than that no wonder so many children are overweight now.

For a teenager I think it's fine. I ate a sandwich and a piece of fruit even lunch at school, with a chocolate bar for break.

Maybe it's difficult to see how many posts there are on a thread if you're reading this on a phone. I don't know as I only look at MN on a laptop. On my laptop I can see very clearly that there are 168 messages on this thread. My settings are to show the whole thread in one go, not page by page, so I don't have the problem of not seeing the last page before I reply. In any case, if I can see that dozens and dozens of other people have already replied, why would I assume that the most obvious point has not already been made?

What is truly astonishing, NoIsNotACompleteSentence, is that you posted and then someone else has said' 'give them a budget and let them be responsible for their own lunch' immediately after.

RTFTRTFTRTFTRTFTRTFTRTFTRTFT ec

That would be fine for my tall sporty 12 year old

Sorry Bertrand, you were the wrong person to get annoyed with!

It depends: how big is breakfast and how soon/how mich will they eat between school ending and the evening meal? It's kind of snacklike, for an active teenager, girl or boy, but could be fine in context.

However, if the idea is being contested, give them the budget to sort it out and let them be responsible for their own lunch.

Fucking hell.

Can people actually read?!

I'm sorry OP, I am feeling quite irritated on your behalf.

As an aside though, it's interesting though how people automatically default to assuming everyone's DCs are NT. It grates on me how there is so much eye rolling at the "what if they have SN" questions, and how "professionally offended" gets trotted out on MN, yet here we have a thread where OP repeatedly explains her DC have SN, yet posters still call them "whinging" and "little buggers" for not making their own sandwiches. People DO need their eyes opening sometimes.

Sorry for getting on your thread, Fenella.

No way is that enough and they should most definitely shop for (within budget) and make their own packed lunches fresh every day. They would learn a lot and no whining to you about inadequate portions!

Sorry to misquote you - I guess I sound like quite a brat from my post!

All I can say is that a group of very industrious adults emerged from that upbringing.

"Bertrand - I agree with your previous post. I come from a family where the children were a bit indulged by our parents. We got away with doing barely any chores and were quite pampered"

Thwt's not quite what I said.Or if I did, it's not quite what I meant! I talked about learning about doing favours and being kind to each other. Not indulging or pampering- but cooperative living.

Bertrand - I agree with your previous post. I come from a family where the children were a bit indulged by our parents. We got away with doing barely any chores and were quite pampered.

All of us stepped up to the plate when required in our lives and it hasn't resulted in any of us being unable to live independently or form meaningful relationships.

It's meant that we all look back on our childhood with fondness and gravitate (along with our spouses) towards our parents constantly. They are surrounded by their adult children and it's where we want to be.

"Bertrand - I think you have missed OP's post about her teens having what sounds like pretty serious SENs and not ever being expected to live independently. No need for comments about teens making their own lunches here."

Wrong person. My previous post was about it being OK for teens not to make their own lunches! Even if NT.

Bertrand - I think you have missed OP's post about her teens having what sounds like pretty serious SENs and not ever being expected to live independently. No need for comments about teens making their own lunches here.

"I regularly ate like a horse"

They trickle feed and graze all day. Proportional to their overall size they have very small stomachs and most of their digestion takes place in the hind gut. They don't, or at least shouldn't, binge eat large amounts. I think you were drawing on the expression "so hungry I could eat a horse". Here endeth the lecture

Doesn't it depend on what they are doing? Some days that would be fine for ds- on the days when he does 4 hours of sport it wouldn't be. And see my earlier post about teens making their own lunches.

Surely the point is that if the 15/16 year olds are active and not overweight, they are perfectly capable of judging how much food they need to eat? If they say it's not enough then it probably isn't!

My 12 year old DS (average height, slender but not skinny) seems to have a much smaller appetite than many of his peers but he would probably eat that much for lunch.

Isntthatafont, RTFT. op specifically said she wasn't looking for nutritional advice and has patiently explained a few times why she makes their lunches...

I do think people lose sight of portion sizes. The maximum a teenager needs (very active, male) is 3000 calories. My v v tall DH should be eating about 2500 calories (literally double what I need!) I know each DC is different but some of these lunch boxes sound very large!

I'm saying this because I totally lost my appetite due to medication/illness, a couple of years ago, and look back now with horror at my portion sizes before. I think my stomach must actually have shrunk as I have (sort of) regained my appetite but physically can't eat the amount I used to. it was a huge eye opener.

YANBU, for lunch, that seems like plenty to me.

I have a 15year old ds who is also gf. He is slight but not excessively skinny anymore.

If he takes a packed lunch it would be 4 slices of gf bread (toasted - that makes it more palatable according to him) with ham and cheese. A pot of cucumber or carrot sticks, piece of fruit, some sort of biscuit or flapjack thing, gf pretzels or Doritos or bread sticks. He might also take a babybel cheese. The pretzel stuff tends to get eaten at break time. So depending on the size of the roll I'ld bulk out the meal with fruit and veg and bread sticks etc rather than another sandwich.

I understand that teenagers need more than in OP, but what's up with 2,3 years old eating more than that? I'm pretty sure they're being overfed.

"Because they cant always tell when they are full. My youngest in particular compulsively eats and isn't able to regulate himself."

I think the problem might be the opposite of what you think.

You've seen the difference between a 12 year old child and a fully grown man - your boys' bodies are trying to achieve that now, and all of that skeleton, muscle and other tissue has to be made and made strong.

When I was a teenage boy, I regularly ate like a horse, certainly much more than I eat as a large grown man after a day of hard physical graft. I hate to say it but that lunch there just makes me laugh now, it wouldn't have registered as a snack as a teenage boy. I didn't have an ounce of fat on me by the time the process was concluded, and if I had, well getting in shape is very easy as a young man because the metabolism is going mental at that point. I wouldn't worry about that.

Their intake now will become their growth and their strength, I'd give them what they need. At least the more of it you choose for them, the more of it can be healthy.

Also, the little buggers should be making their own sandwiches at that age - believe me they will work something out!

Good luck fighting to keep enough food in the house for them to eat

Although I've just looked it up and it says a 15 year old boy may need 3000 calories a day!

healthyeating.sfgate.com/healthy-calorie-intake-15yearold-boy-5543.html

In that case I'd do two sandwiches, two pieces of fruit and one snack item.

That's what crossed my mind pp.

They are at school for 6-7 hours. A sandwich, a snack and a piece of fruit is enough for lunch, adults eat that much. They don't need to be constantly eating.

I'm always a bit shocked to see how much some kids have in their lunchboxes - 5 year olds eating more than me! Including crisps, and lollies everyday.

One in three teens in the UK is overweight or obese.

Just to get that out there into a discussion about 'teens can't stop eating'.

DS eats loads too, but not at lunchtime. He just wants to get out on the field with his mates. That lunch would be fine for him.