If you have a sporty teen son how much do they eat?

[PricillaPeli]

My DS (14) does a lot of sport, including day camps in the holidays or at weekends. He's 5'11 and a healthy weight. He is still growing, has a big appetite, grazes constantly, and complains loudly when hungry. I wonder how his food intake compares to other sporty boys of the same age. This week he is doing camps and tournaments 8 days in a row. He has a large bowl of cereal for breakfast before he goes, and then typically for a camp lasting 9am - 5pm he will have:
Sandwiches - (4 slices of bread, maybe cheese, or tuna, or ham salad filling)
A wedge of tortilla or a scotch egg
A couple of yoghurt tubes
A pot of mixed nuts and raisins
A cereal/protein bar
A bagel with jam filling
A couple of Soreen slices
A pot of grapes
A pear and/or a satsuma
3-4 plain biscuits, e.g. hobnobs
A few sweets in a pot, e.g. jelly babies
A couple of juice cartons
Then he'll come home and have another bowl of cereal, a round of toast and raid the fruit bowl before dinner (e.g. pasta). And probably have more toast before bedtime too. Is this typical?

As long as he isnt putting on too much weight it is fine. I have a 14 year old who sounds very similar he is 6ft and skinny as a bean pole but doesn't stop eating my 11 year old is a swimmer and can literally eat a loaf of bread a day when he is at the peak of his training.

It doesn't sound like a large amount to me. My DD is only 9, and sporty, and she eats a similar amount. She just burns it off. Maybe get some more protein in there to help him feel fuller and build muscle.

My 14 year old is the same - very sporty, tall (almost six foot), not an inch of fat on him. I am constantly amazed at the volume of food he packs away - his older brother was the same at that age but he was stockier.

It’s endlessly fascinating watching teenagers eat, especially boys. It’s almost impossible to fill them and it carries on well into their 20s. I remember coming out of my bedroom one Sunday morning to find that DS1 had brought half of his rugby team home during the small hours and there were huge bodies everywhere- two of them were asleep on the landing. I knew I needed to do an emergency trolley dash to the supermarket as they would want breakfast. I’ve honestly never seen so much bacon eggs and all the trimmings disappear in such a short time. They ate at least 6 rashers and three eggs each, plus tomatoes, beans and four or five slices of toast, orange juice, coffee, fruit.
DS2 has been at our house this evening after his exercise class and has eaten the equivalent of three salmon fillets, a packet of microwave rice and grains, a huge portion of salad, bread and crisps. That’s a snack to keep body and soul together till he gets home .
In short OP - you can’t give them too many carbs. DH and his brothers used to get through a full loaf toasted when they got in from school. #lads

I have a 13 year old swimmer. He doesn't have dairy so his diet is quite different but he eats huge amounts, he's a typical swimmer build and there is no body fat in sight.

If we go for a carvery he will demolish the large plate. He has lots of eggs, meat, fish and veg/salad and can make a loaf of bread disappear in a day. I'm worried about my food bill in a few years!!

I don't think it's too much food. They eat so much at that age and if he's a very weight then it's fine.

I'd say it quite a lot of carbs and sugar. He'd maybe feel fuller with more protein in there if you're trying to cut down the amount fill him up.

Hollow legs, in my experience

Yep DS nearly 17 normally very active but at the moment is permanently horizontal watching Netflix or on PS4 ( has moaned for the last 6mnths about how Covid has robbed him of a whole year of his life but is currently now happily wasting it by choice🙄). He is eating for three but losing weight, apparently.
He has grown an inch since Easter so maybe last surge of growth spurt. He’s well over 6’3”.
I am dreading him going back to school because he will be rugby training most days and is taking PE A level. My food bill is going to double and added to that he will be learning about nutrition so my current fast carb solution ( cupboard full of biscuits and fridge of pizzas for nocturnal snacks) isn’t going to hack it.

@PricillaPeli

My DS (14) does a lot of sport, including day camps in the holidays or at weekends. He's 5'11 and a healthy weight. He is still growing, has a big appetite, grazes constantly, and complains loudly when hungry. I wonder how his food intake compares to other sporty boys of the same age. This week he is doing camps and tournaments 8 days in a row. He has a large bowl of cereal for breakfast before he goes, and then typically for a camp lasting 9am - 5pm he will have: Sandwiches - (4 slices of bread, maybe cheese, or tuna, or ham salad filling) A wedge of tortilla or a scotch egg A couple of yoghurt tubes A pot of mixed nuts and raisins A cereal/protein bar A bagel with jam filling A couple of Soreen slices A pot of grapes A pear and/or a satsuma 3-4 plain biscuits, e.g. hobnobs A few sweets in a pot, e.g. jelly babies A couple of juice cartons Then he'll come home and have another bowl of cereal, a round of toast and raid the fruit bowl before dinner (e.g. pasta). And probably have more toast before bedtime too. Is this typical?

I’m dreading 5he shopping bill at this stage! Your list is like reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar on speed! It gives me hope that the current pace of three rice crispies every 5 minutes will improve with time!

I bought ds1 a Fitbit a few years ago when he was about 20. I asked him why he stopped wearing it. He said it made him sad as it said he required 5000 calories a day and just couldn’t eat that much.

He used to cycle to work, 45 mins each way, plus run, go for walks and go to the gym to build muscle. But never managed to go over 11 stone at 6 foot 1.

My sports player, similar build, probably ate more. I just let him have what he wanted. It was common for him to eat a sandwich (and more!) when he came in at 430 or 5, followed by dinner at 630. Teens are growing and using a lot of energy. Both take huge amounts of calories.

Ps. He is 22 now and no longer does that. It's just a phase.

Not much protein in there. I'd be tempted to get him to have a protein shake after his sports sessions at least once a day. It's about 20g protein per portion and will help him feel fuller.

I've been trying to increase the amount of protein - hence the sandwich filling, tortilla, nuts, yoghurt and sometimes a pot of cheese cubes too. I'm wary of buying branded shakes etc because they're so expensive. Any tips for increasing protein more cheaply would be great.

Myprotein is fairly cost effective.

You can get decent meat hampers from musclefood too

Oh god! I’ve got a very sporty 8 year old ds and a 5 year old dd who does loads of dance. No idea how I’m going to afford the shopping bills once they hit the teenage years!

If he likes eggs, they are a pretty easy and healthy option to have for breakfast. Probably more filling than cereal

Hummus on bagel instead of jam (for more protein) ?

I was a sporty and generally very active teen (girl) who walked to and from school and was consistently underfed and shamed by my mum for, for example, eating a piece of toast when coming home from school. I was always underweight (but thought I was huge and greedy). This thread has been quite emotive for me.

I would definitely add protein to breakfast. Eggs are great, cost effective and quick. Could also add beans/sausages. Porridge also probably better than cereal and can add seeds etc. for extra protein.

Peanut butter or houmous on the bagel.

Pot of houmous or a nut butter with carrot sticks.

Swap out the raisins for seeds in the nut mix.

Include a chicken breast (or other meat!) for one of his snacks (maybe instead of biscuits and sweets and soreen).

You can roast chickpeas and they make a nice crispy snack and more protein that crisps etc. would have.

I don't think it's too much, no.
Are you concerned around cost? If so, I think the issue is the sugar and carbs. It's a lot of that really. It's a lot of grazing and snack food too, nothing substantial which makes you feel like you've not eaten much and makes you moreish. Would it be possible to send him off with a Tupperware of chickpea or other pasta with chicken etc? Jacket potatoes work great too. Lots of American websites have athlete lunch box ideas for cheap as those things are super common over there. Those kinds of lunches are much more filling than sandwiches and end up being cheaper too as you don't need those grazing bits.
You can very cheaply make your own granola bars that are easy and much cheaper than soreen slices etc. Mix oats with nuts, honey or maple syrup and bake. You can incorporate protein powder cheaply to almost anything.
I think if he had a warm meal and a protein shake for lunch he would be much more filled. Make sure he is also drinking a lot.

I have 2 hollow legged teens but the 14 yo (surfing, running, cycling) has a lot of need for food. the other one is slightly younger and also needs a lot of food, but not quite as much.

breakfast is 2 hardboiled eggs, 3 weetabix with oatmilk + nutella.
snack cheese toastie (or sandwich if out)
lunch noodles & omlette & salad
snack from fruitbowl or an ice cream if surfing
dinner 2 adult portions of whatever we are having
snack bowl of yoghurt & cereal & fruit

At that age the amount DS ate was ridiculous. He was in a football team and training twice a week and in a match. Plus he was in the school cricket team and played at the local park as often as possible. He also had a paper round, which he used to literally run round.

He now at 20 has a very physical job and is in another football team. He is eating loads again but not as much as at 14, I assume he has stopped growing. He is 6ft 5. My English DH is tall but my family is tiddly.

Not sure on how much he should be eating, but wanted to suggest chicken sausages to go in his lunch box as snacks? Lidl and Aldi do them very cheaply and they’re lovely

I've got 3 boys and they all eat a ridiculous amount (even the 4 year old 🙄)

However Ds1 is 13 and is on another level. He's recently discovered the gym, which he loves, and is going several times a week.

On his gym days you just can't fill him at all, he eats more than dh! Snack after snack between meals, huge dinner then he's prowling in the fridge an hour later.

I keep half an eye on his weight because I'm always expecting him to balloon but he hasn't yet 😂