Teen eating SO much

[GlitteryFarts]

I'm at my wits end with my 14yo ds.
I have 4 boys, ages 6, 8, 12 and 14. The 14 year old is an actual bottomless pit.

For example, on Monday I spent £50 stocking the freezer with a variety.of ice lollies to tide them over the summer holidays. I've just looked and there are about 8 left.

Yesterday we went to the beach and I bought the most humongous watermelon ever before hand for the picnic. I cubed it and we shared a quarter of it between the 5 of us (it really was that big) along with other bits. This morning he ate the other quater to himself and I've just caught him in his room with the remaining half.

Every time I stock up on things to last us the week, the wrappers are in his bedroom and cupboards are empty within a couple of days.

I know the usual consensus is to simply stop buying things but its so unfair that his younger siblings should miss out because he is so greedy. He can't say its hunger because ice lollies and watermelons aren't filling! Its just that its there and he wants it.

The biscuit jar will be empty within 2 days of it being filled and the younger ones may have had 1 or 2 each, they get sweets for their birthdays from family and they go missing and nobody knows where until I search his room and find the empty wrappers. He will sneak down countless times of a night to get toast, crisps, cereal, anything.

Ive bought microwave popcorn at 25p a bag, healthier and fills a large bowl, he was over it in 3 days and back to normal taking everything else. Ive bought rice crackers - he ate the whole pack in a night. I bought pot noodles as a carb fix - he ate 3 in a night.

His portion sizes are huge, I try to fill him at mealtimes with lots of protein, veg and carbs to avoid this but he just inhales his food within 30 seconds and is on the mooch for more an hour later.

He is 6ft tall and as thin as a string of spaghetti, he doesn't have worms as I deworm us all regularly due to letters from school. I don't think he has any kind of illness unless sheer greed is an illness and I'm at my absolute wits end. He is costing me a fortune and it isn't sinking in! I've explained how much I spend, how selfish it is etc, he just stares at me and either agrees or says he's hungry when he isn't!

What can I do except put a lock on my kitchen door which I absolutely won't as its our home! I hate the thought of not buying as much over the holidays and the younger ones missing out on treats because he can't bare to eat only his fair share.

Any advice please?

Same and I'm 5 foot tall. 4'11 really.

In fact the other day I chopped half a watermelon up and just put it on a tray for easy grazing between me and 5yo DS.

My 13 year old son is 6ft tall, and an absolute rake. He eats non stop. I would never call him a greedy pig. They eat what they need to sustain themselves and to continue developing. We make him meals filled with fish, veg and lots of potatoes. It will even out eventually. He dosent always eat tons, it usually coincides with a growth spurt. Its healthy and a normal part of growing. Albeit expensive.

He's not greedy he's a 14 year old boy. He needs to eat proper filling foods. Watermelon and ice lollies wouldn't even touch the sides. Protein, protein and more protein. He's a growing teenager

Similar to my friends sons

Once treats are gone for the weeks

They eat as much of the below foods as they like

She cooks a huge bowl of pasta and adds chopped stuff

Cold pasta salad /pesto

Hot pasta and chopped ham or sausage

Toast - a loaf a day sometimes with peanut butter or jam

Cereal. Last a few a day

Stop buying expensive processed snacks and fill the cupboards with proper food he can fill up on. Teach him to cook himself meals and what food is healthy. He’s clearly having a growth spurt.

He is 6ft tall and as thin as a string of spaghetti

It is really awful to describe him as greedy.

My friend used to make her ds have 3 slices of bread and butter before his evening meal.

This kept on top of his hunger.

We had 3 teen boys once. It was mental. Shopping twice a week. 2 loaves of bread a day. Endless cereal. They used mixing bowls to eat it as they were bigger🥴

100% normal. Get him baking to keep him active like filling wholesome foods, snacks...banana or carrot cake muffins, lasagna, flapjacks etc

I have one of these,but he's 18 now (and still eating and still skinny!).

I just make sure I buy enough of what he needs to fill him up. Luckily we can easily afford that.

I also make sure he knows what is the "treat" food, which he only has his fair share of. He also checks before eating "meal ingredients" like chicken/steak etc

I'll be honest, I do worry a bit about the amount of UPF he eats as I buy him extra cheap but filling carb heavy food (that the rest of the family don't want) like oven chips/crisps/hash browns/fish fingers/battered chicken etc.

I think you do have to accept that your skinny 14 year old isn't eating too much - but you might have to buy him some bulking/filling food (pasta/rice/potatoes) to make sure he doesn't eat everyone else's share of the treats.

It seems the issue is not just about eating but also about respect, boundaries and self control. You need to talk to him and also get him involved in the shopping and making meals for the family do he appreciates it and doesn't take it for granted.

My DD went through a massive growth spurt when she was about 10/11 - she went from a shoe size 2 to a size 7 in about 4 months at one point! I couldn’t buy enough food to keep her going. She literally ate from morning till night and the only time she stopped, was when she slept. It slowed down after about a year, and it obviously coincided with puberty. Could it be that?

“he doesn't have worms as I deworm us all regularly due to letters from school”

come again?

Peanut butter, baked beans, and eggs are all good hearty things to have on toast. Tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches or on a jacket potato, lentil soups -lentil and chickpea curry/chilli/bolognese with rice/pasta/jacket are healthy, filling and cheap.

An average 14 year old teen boy needs 2600-3200 calories a day. OP's son is already 6 feet tall, so likely needs more. I'm thinking more wholemeal bread and sandwich filling, eggs, porridge with fruit and nuts, full fat yoghurt with fruit, brown/wild rice with sautéed veg and a protein, protein shake with full fat milk and yoghurt.

I think there are definitely two issues here. He clearly needs a fair amount of food right now. You and him need to come up with stuff that is acceptable for him to eat to keep him fuller.
BUT eating all the food, that is supposed to be for his siblings, stealing other people’s sweets??! That’s unacceptable. It’s mean and sneaky and, yes, greedy. He is being fed. Plenty. Of proper food. The rest is greed and boredom. The best part of £50 worth of ice lollies in a week?? He’s just eating them because he can. I’d be getting him to buy the next lot. His poor siblings.

Why?
He is part of a family. He’s eating way more than his fair share. That’s greed. He’s 14 not 4 he understands what he is doing.

Also Prada-willi syndrome

He's not greedy or 'stuffing himself' - it's really uncomfortable to read you talk about him like that.

He's a growing, tall, man-sized boy - he needs a lot of calories. Quarter of a watermelon between five is laughable in terms of calories. What your boy needs is a ton of protein. Discuss with him what food he can always access (wholemeal toast and peanut butter, beans on toast, boiled eggs etc) and what foods he needs to leave for everyone (biscuits, lollies etc). Then let him grow up in a house where he can satisfy his body's needs without having to hide it.

Why would you do this instead of feeding him actual food? Potatoes, brown rice and wholemeal pasta are much better options.

I watched my three nephews go through this phase and their parents just relented as they were like hoovers.

Maybe by little and often, as if it's there, he will eat. Don't be surprised if the others follow suit unfortunately

It seems its common for teen boys to be very hungry. But I had a colleague once in his early twenties who was tall, thin and couldn't stop eating - it turned out to be a thyroid issue.

My 13yr old is exactly like this. I've taken to splitting the food, so say I buy 24 pack of crisps I will only put 4 out and tell him it's one each not to eat other people's share.
If there are ice creams or 'luxury' foods I say he needs to ask before taking to make sure it's not planned for. He ate whole packet of smoked salmon in one sitting earlier in the week.

I am also clear about what he can eat if he's extra hungry; cereal, toasties, crackers, oat bars, fruit, cheese, ham...not hoovering up full packets of biscuits and leaving nothing for everyone else. Which is what he has been doing.

I sympathise, it's driving me mad because I can't afford to keep up with it and the rest of us are going without.

He's 14, that's what they do!

You've got three more boys coming up on their teenage years, OP, so brace yourself for always feeling like you're refilling the fridge!

I have three boys who were all teenagers at the same time so I know what it's like. All were tall and skinny. I stocked up on pasta, bread, cereals and milk, allowed free access to the fruit bowl and limited sweet stuff.

As adults they still come home and the first thing they do is open the fridge door to see what's there <sigh>

I agree with this.

Holiday periods, or if there’s a point where it gets contentious (lockdown was a real moment!) we have individual tuck-boxes. It sounds annoying but it really helps. Summer holidays I’ve also taken them with me to the supermarket and given them the snack budget per person to choose their own stuff for a week. Helps them understand just how much money can buy.

And encourage them to cook. Keeps them busy!

Also getting him to research nutrition and recipes might be an idea.

Last thought - I don’t know how your own appetite is but I’ve found now I’m older I just don’t get as hungry, therefore it’s always surprising (& a bit annoying) to me how frequently and violently teens get genuinely hungry. I’ve sort of stopped experiencing hunger like that so I can’t empathise any more. So I think it’s important to remember that myself so I don’t accidentally shame their (developmentally normal) appetite. I have to make a conscious effort.

Porridge
Cereal
Natural yogurt with granola and seeds topping
breadsticks and carrots and hummous
Pasta
Rice
Cheese biscuits and hunks of cheese
Pita bread and tuna/hummous

Try to steer clear of processed foods.