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?

I have 17 and 13 year old boys and a 16 year old girl. The minute I turn around the cupboards, fridge and freezer need filling up!

We are going away in a week so I am only buying essentials and encouraging them to rummage through the packed cupboards, and freezer and get creative with their snacks.

They generally do need easy to grab snacks (as teens can be lazy) and encouraged and taught the skills to make thier own lunch eg pasta, omlettes, toasties etc

As soon as we have had dinner the boys are tucking into cereal etc (and its not portion sizes as often there is leftovers from dinner - we normally put it in the middle and everyone helps themselves to they can take as much as they want)

What I mean is, it’s just a word to describe eating a lot, whether that’s because of a growth spurt or not. My DS is like a rake, but if he goes in the fridge and eats all the cakes I’ve bought for the whole family, that’s being greedy because it’s selfish. I think OP is getting it in the neck but anyone who has had teens will know how frustrating it is to try and keep them full, and have enough food left for the rest of the family, especially if you’re on a tight budget.

Tins of soup are your friend. You can get supermarket ones for 50p. Whack them in a bowl/mug in the microwave. Job done. There’s loads of flavours and they mostly have a portion of veg.

Obviously he should not eat all the treat food, but we do not know OP's idea of a plate piled high, or if there high carb/protein foods are available to him to snack on. There may be, in which case he needs to be told. There may not be, in which case we have the answer.

He may be like my brothers who would often make themselves an hor doeuvres of a can of beans on toast an hour before before dinner, which would include perhaps a jacket potato with half a chicken, gravy and veg. Followed by pudding.
If he is getting the same sized meal as a 9 year old girl or his Mum, it probably isn't enough.

I've already posted on this thread. Today we went shopping for school trousers. Every single one, despite them being adjustable, just fell off him. So I'm going to have to look into finding some that fit. My son dosent eat anyone else's share and he actually didn't eat when he needed to because he thought he should eat the same as his sisters (aged 12 and 10). He actually fainted at school several times in the last few months. Turns out he was overly conscious of what he was eating and though he was eating too much. We had never mentioned it as to us it was obvious he needed the fuel, especially as he's very active as well. All is resolved now and he knows to eat when his body tells him too. Please don't make it an issue. He's just growing. As long as he's not taking anyone else's food then as long as he's getting enough fuel it's all good.