How much does it cost to feed an average 12 year old boy?

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Need to settle a disagreement please.

Just normal food. How much in money would you say?

Good quality food, not cheap rubbish. He likes veg, and I do 50% organic. Good quality meat. Fruit lover too.

This is one of those questions that's like how much do you spend to feed a family of five? There will be some posters claiming they feed their rugby playing DH, 2 teenage sons and a DD all for less than a fiver a day while others will be spending £300 per week on two adults and a toddler.

A better question is probably how much food do you buy? I am dreading DS hitting the teen years as he already is a good eater and I remember the sheer quantities of bread, potatoes, cereal and sausages that were consumed in our house by my brothers when we were teens!

It's an impossible question, but after Googling, I'd say around 90 pounds per month.

That is a completely meaningless question because of economies of scale - the 12 year old isn't buying and cooking his own food separately to the rest of the family presumably.

I have a 13 year old boy, but I also have an older teen and a pre teen plus DH and me. How much cheaper would a weekly food bill be if my 13 year old was away on a school trip for the week? Not much tbh as I shop for 5 people. Obviously if for some unfathomable reason I had to buy food just for ds1 it'd cost more than I'd save by missing catering for him out of the family food bill...

Dividing the family food bill into 5 he probably costs about 150€ per month to feed... He's not noticeably more expensive than his 9 year old brother or 16 year old sister to feed, though volume wise he eats more than his little brother and older sister, hos sister asks for more expensive ingredients especially in terms of more expensive types of soft fruit and berries more often...

Who's the disagreement with?

According to Dr Google, he needs around 1800cal if he's sedentary and up to 2600 if he's active. So around the same as you unless he does a lot of sport. I expect he'll need a fair amount of protein because he's still growing.

If he's telling you he needs more food, then put aside the cost for a moment and work out whether he actually needs more or if he's just eating because it's there, or he's bored, or it tastes nice, or it's a societal expectation to eat a whole pizza during a games evening.

If someone else is criticising your grocery spend, ignore them.

If your life partner is worrying about the amount you spend on groceries, work with them to consider ways you can cut down (not buying organic, for instance - it's a green thing, not a health one; counterbalance by reducing meat).

The same as an adult, based on my son.

Thank you 😊

My 8&9yo DDs require more food than me... Probably about the same as their father.

During a growth spurt, I'd expect a teenage boy to eat more than a grown adult.

Based on a quarter of our weekly food bill... £30.