Is this an appropriate portion for DS12?

[JacksonPercy]

DS12 is trying to get a bit fitter as he competes in a sport and wants to get better. He’s tall for his age (around 5 ft 5ish) and isn’t a skinny build, he’s not heavy but he’s got a little bit of podge around his middle/torso (you wouldn’t really notice with clothes on). He’s got a good diet overall, likes fruit and vegetables and loves trying new foods but he does have a big appetite so I’m trying to make sure his portion size is right.

I’ve attached a photo of tonight’s dinner - it’s most certainly not “insta worthy” but I swear it’s tasty 🤣! It’s a medium size plate, half with lettuce and cucumber, around 20ish pasta shells, 3 beef meatballs and a slice of garlic bread with some cheese on top. The sauce is just passata mixed with herbs and he’ll have a cup of semi skimmed milk. Does this seem reasonable? If he‘s hungry after he’ll have a granola yoghurt tub thing/fruit/oat biscuits.

He’s got extra training sessions/running plans in place for extra physical activity and I just want to add that this is all led by him, I would never restrict his diet or anything like that or force exercise - he genuinely just wants to do better at his sport. I eat like a horse and don’t put on weight and I’ve never competed in sport so I haven’t had to think about this kind of thing.

Also, is he just 12 and in year 7? Ds and all his friends seem to have had huge growth spurts from the spring of year 7 into the summer. It's weird because they are all v different birthdays but the growth all seemed to happen at the same time. Ds' started in spring then accelerated in late summer.

Our chiropractor swears this is totally normal for year 7, 8 and 9 - and I tend to believe her as she predicted this one!

Re exercise and toning up, at this age I think a lot of it really is about time spent. Ds' fitness really accelerated when he joined a team that practices for 90 minuted at a time, 2x a week, at a fairly intense level. 1 hour football practices don't really cut it. He also then started spending hours practising by himself and he just got fitter and fitter without any specific plan (although he is slightly.obsessive about push ups! 😆😆😆).

3 meatballs and 20 pieces of pasta for a 12 year old boy?

What is it with threads on MN about people seriously under feeding growing boys?

Football.

Why are you portion controlling a 12 year old? Just make sure he doesn’t eat shit. Pre teens need LOADS of food to grow. It sounds like you have food issues yourself OP to even post this here.

Thank you. It’s just DS and I. We’re short on time some evenings between me getting home from work and getting DS to training so I try and have something made that I can reheat.

@JacksonPercy : I eat like a horse and don’t put on weight and I’ve never competed in sport so I haven’t had to think about this kind of thing.

I gain weight if I watch someone eat a pizza on TV. 🙁

That looks like a toddler portion to me. Mine are 10 and 13 and the last time I served a portion that small was probably when they were about 2. No where near enough, better a bigger portion than snacking on granola and cereal bars after too

He doesn’t eat crisps or chocolate - not a crisps fan and he’s been given 3 selection boxes this week plus chocolates for his birthday. Has chosen not to even open them 🤷‍♀️.

He could easily be over weight because he’s about to have a massive growth spurt. Please teach your child how to deal with bullying rather than how to loose weight and how to change to please others.

Far too much non-nutritional lettuce and cucumber, not nearly enough carbohydrate and most importantly protein. 3 meatballs? Really? for a 2 year old, great, for a growing, active young man not nearly enough!

See:

Well that's good news. In that case I would still feed him more protein, encourage his sport and don't worry a jot about his weight. If he is active and not eating junk food he will be fine, but he does need to eat about 50% more than a typical grown-up would expect.

Don't cut out the salad, but up the pasta and definitely the meatballs.

And buy bigger plates.

I don’t see the need to critique the contents of the meal when the OP was asking about portion sizes. Perhaps her son likes ‘bland and boring’. It looks perfectly nice to me.

Yeah he has literally just turned 12 in the past week. That’s really helpful, thanks, hopefully he will take a growth spurt around the same time.

He trains 2 hours twice a week and one hour once a week plus one to two games, football at lunch in school a few times a week plus PE twice a week. Always sweaty afterwards so I think he is working hard and he really enjoys it. He wants to do more outwith training so I think that will help too.

Each time I come on mumsnet, something baffles me. I'm shocked by the comments here especially the ones that call the plate 'tiny'. Judging by how many mumsnet families survive on 1 slice of pizza and a cherry Tom with a thimble of water or wine to wash it down, I was expecting to read the opposite.

I actually think the portion is enough besides it looking overfilled. Perhaps a bigger plate might help it not look so full and ds not used to a visually stuffed plate.

<Walking away and scratching my head at the comments.>

This. I was keeping an eye on my son at that age who seemed to be getting a bit tubby. My older son has my build (tall and lean) so this was my first encounter with the pre-growth spurt chub.
A few people reassured me that he'd probably grow UP quickly very soon.
He did. I never restricted his food nor made any issue of it, but we did both sit down and agree that we could both do with improving our diets. We stopped getting 'treat' food in the house, planned better meals (more cooking from scratch and less processed), which was a way for me to ensure he was eating good food w/o making an issue of it.

@JacksonPercy The protein is really the big issue here. As Devondad mentioned there’s hardly any protein in those premade meatballs. If you can add in things like chicken, fish, beef/pork, even peanut butter it will really help him out. He needs protein to build muscle. If he’s not getting it then his training isn’t going to do as much for him as it would if he had the nutrients he needed.

Honestly, if cooking more protein is going to be a struggle time-wise then I would look into supplementing his intake with bars or shakes. While it may not be the ideal option, it sounds like he’s just not getting enough and he really needs it for growth and muscle building. Instead of the sweet yoghurts would he eat those little protein snack packs that have meat, cheese, and almonds?

It’s awful that he’s had to deal with comments like that. And you too! It can’t be easy to hear that about your kid. I think though that this will sort itself with a little diet tweaking and his next growth spurt.

I agree, that looks like an 8” plate, not a dinner plate. I also agree it doesn’t
look enough. My v skinny 18 year old daughter eats quite a lot more than that.
There is often a little bit of podge on 12 year olds pre the big growth spurt , I wouldn’t worry about it at this age at all. It is needed to fuel the growth.

Chicken breasts or chicken legs (cheaper) can go in the oven. Good low fat protein if you take the skin off.

pork chops, again take the fat off.

Steak is now cheaper than some fish I find so we eat a bit of that.

salmon, cod etc in the oven. Dead easy, takes 15 mins.

Things like black beans and chickpeas are quite cheap and also have more protein than pasta or potatoes which are pure glucose once inside and spike blood sugar to boot.

Beans and chickpeas give a nice steady release of energy. Lentils are the same. Tins of lentils with curry sauce and veg cooked in the microwave are great but search for low fat curry sauces. I try to get ones at 6 grams of fat or below.

Don’t demonise fat, not saying you have - but let him have nuts, also reality filling and full of protein and sunflower seeds.

These are good fats. Also chia seeds with yogurt. Extra healthy 👍

Im sure he’s going to be fine but yeah that pasta dish would fill me for all of two hours at the most and I’d be hungry again.

Proper meat, proper pulses, proper veg, we cut ours up on the weekend so it’s ready to go in the microwave during the week.

He’ll do great I’m certain. You sound like a great mum just trying to do your best.

Nope.

(also, really you should let his appetite dictate how much he eats)

My four year old would eat that and he isn't overweight

At 12 my son was eating adult portions. Especially of meat. Now at 18 his meals are protein and green veg heavy due to IBS.
He went through a slightly ‘chunky’ phase with puppy fat, which disappeared when he shot up to 6’1”.

Are you sure he’s not hungry and supplementing quite small meals imo, with rubbish? That’s what I used to do as a teen. My mum thought 1/4 of a medium thin pizza and some cucumber was an appropriate meal for a 14 year old girl, so I’d secretly buy junk on the way to and from school and opt for stodgy crap from the canteen.

This thread is peak mumsnet with the super skinny teenage girls & the athletic DS’ with hollow legs.
i find mumsnet very strange when it comes to food. OP honestly you are doing fine, you are doing great. There are some good recipe suggestions here but I’m not sure all the posters with rake thin teenagers that eat like a horse are particularly helpful. Nor those criticising the meal for being bland/ unappetising.

Hmm - seems most subsequent posters agree with me. If these boys were 'gluttons' they would put on weight - as DS is very lanky and slim I assume he needs the calories he's eating.

I don't know if the conversation might be different about girls - my teenage DD is a very different build to her brother and she eats far less. If she ate what he does she might get overweight and we would have to discuss that. But she doesn't have the urge.....🙂. But I don't know if that is generally a gender based difference or just how my two DCs are.....?

Given the tendency for us all to say teenage boys eat huge amounts, I think it may be a thing? Obviously all children are different, who knows.....

He needs lots of protein and tons of vegetables.
As opposed bread, cheese and pasta.

And if he wants to get fit, point him towards Caroline, Girvan and Growingannanas.
Yes, they are 'girls', but their workouts...... work!

You are kind of on the right track, half the plate veg, 1 third carb, 1 third protein, just theres not enough protein there

Shop bought meatballs arent really the best source of protein out there tbh. I know you are a working mum and time is tight, and probably money in this climate

If that was my grandchild, it would be similar, but instead of meatballs, bolognese made with Turkey mince, with a third of the weight of meat added red lentils - cheap filling protein and fibre and they melt in so picky kids ( and husbands) dont know - lots of onions, garlic, tomatoes and anything else I can throw in that I know he will eat. Slow cookers are a godsend, chuck it in, switch to on, come home and its done, just a pan of pasta to cook and a salad to rustle up. I personally use wholemeal pasta, for the fibre content, same as I only eat wholemeal bread, but a teen doesn't have those concerns, although learning habits for life isnt a bad thing :) When it comes to a salad - eat a rainbow. I prefer rocket, its expensive, I mix it with the cheap iceberg, I add tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, avocado , olives, pickles, roasted peppers - whatever Ive got in the cupboard and fridge . Even add halved grapes, blueberries , strawberries , a few seeds or chopped nuts

Like your son, grandson eats carp at school, its all they appear to serve ( Northern Ireland here so different rules ) plus hes on free school dinners which is a set amount and he swears its not enough to buy a decent meal. I dont know if hes totally truthful on that, hes a teen and loves the junk . However I do know that unless I give him a filling meal, lots of protein and veg, hes raiding the biscuit barrel when he should be sleeping

I just work with every meal has to be eaten at the table and every meal has to contain fruit or veg. Yes we have pizza, with salad instead of chips or garlic bread and yes he can eat a whole pizza himself, but he has to take the salad as well. Roast dinner, I pile on the spuds, along with the broccoli and carrots ( 2 veg he does like ), You dont get a bacon butty here, you get a BLT - lettuce and tomato - I shove the veg in where ever I can

Between the slow cooker and air fryer and planning ahead, supper is on the table within 30 mins of me walking in the door

As for the comments from parents, Id be having words.

I remember being a wee tub aged 12, I didnt get my curves until 14 , I too suffered in the changing rooms. Back in my day the role models were Twiggy and the ilk, there was no obesity so chubby kids got it tough and I still have body image problems now. I remember being "fat" sized 8 ( teen sized for some clothes ) and now age 60 I still struggle not to see myself as fat wearing size 10