How much does your teen boy eat?

[MontBeauBlue]

DS15 has lost 4kg over the past few months. I think I must not be feeding him enough.

He doesn’t eat breakfast. Lunch is usually a sandwich and traybake (school meal deal). After school he might eat a packet of crisps or other snack like fruit or hard boiled egg. Dinner he eats a largish portion of whatever we have for example, slow cooker casserole with potatoes, pasta dishes, curry and rice, soup and homemade scones, that type of stuff. No pudding

He’s agreed to start eating breakfast. He’s a slim build so don’t want him losing more weight although he thinks he’s a bit chunky. He’s physically active - spends quite a few hours per week bouldering/climbing

Sounds fine to me and I have 3 adult sons.

Don't force him to eat breakfast though if he's not hungry.

Mine stopped eating breakfast in the last year of junior school which coincidentally, was around the same time I stopped eating it.

I just don't wake up hungry and don't need to eat until lunchtime.

When my son was that age he went through a phase of coming home from school and making nachos - large packet of cheap tortilla chips, salsa, cheese. A packet of crisps or an egg would not have been enough. He ate breakfast, took a decent packed lunch, and ate dinner and likely fruit/another snack in the evening.

Is he getting taller at the moment? When my son was properly shooting up he ate constantly. It's not great that he's losing weight if he's already slim.

He’s not getting taller at the moment, I was thinking if he’s not getting enough calories and losing weight then that could impact growth?

I don’t want to force him to eat breakfast in the mornings if he’s not hungry but it seems the easiest way to add calories in

I think it can impact growth?

More snacks and eating more at the weekends.

That sounds like a very small amount of food for a teenage boy.

Can he bring lunch from home, or at least take something else with him? Smoothie or something for breakfast if he doesn't want a proper meal? Is he allowed pudding or does he just not want it?

Mine eats way more than that, skinny, sporty, 13 and 5ft 8.
3 big meals a day, he takes 3-4 extra snacks with him on a school day and has unlimited access to fruit/yogurt/cereals etc at home (he can get through a big box of cereal in 2 days). Sometimes he doesn't want breakfast but I strongly encourage it otherwise he gets hangry. This is temporary right?🤔

My almost 13 year old is sporty and skinny and about 5 foot 8 too. He eats cereal for breakfast, whatever he buys from school for lunch which is usually something shit like pizza or burger. He also takes a chocolate bar and piece of fruit from home and comes home and has a snack of fruit salad. He eats a bit portion of whatever we’re having for tea like spag bol, roast dinner etc.

DS was always tall and as a result grew, on average,10cm per year from about 5yrs old. But was never a huge eater. He was later going through peak puberty so did his major growth spurt around 15-16. Up until then he was quite slender, although not stick thin. At 15-16 he went from eating like your DS to consuming 6000cals a day. He was constantly hungry. He was very sporty so burned it off and grew. He’s now 20 and 188cm, a little overweight ( a few Kg ) mainly due to a year of enjoying freshers at uni.

Boys hit puberty (peak) at very different ages. One of DS’s classmates was 11 another nearly 17. But you can tell when they are about to go nuclear because they eat 24/7. DS would be making toasties at 4am, would eat a whole chicken at one go and a weeks shopping would last 3 days. He’s now returned to normal eating although still raids the kitchen in the middle of the night if he’s been active in his sport.

My tall (6 foot 5 and 6 foot 4) skinny and very sporty 16 and 18 year olds eat around 5000 calories a day each. They have not a scrap of fat on them. Eat a lot of protein eggs, bean stew, chicken, mince, dhal), lots of carbs (rice, bread, pots, porridge,), loads of fruit and veg and a load of biscuits, crisps etc. they are constantly hungry and it drives me insane!

That seems low. My 15 yo is about six foot and starting to fill out in the shoulders . I make protien flapjacks with lots of peanut butter and ripe bananas and he grabs them for breakfast and has them on the bus.

That said the climbers / boulderers I know are all very slim but wiry and very strong. Perhaps he’s being influenced by his hobby?

I have a 13 yr old and two 15 yr old, all boys. They eat varying amounts, one 15yr old (around 5'9 & slim) prob very similar to yours - he does eat breakfast, but generally a small dinner. He's just not interested in food.
The other two eat more - the other 15yr old eats way more. I would be concerned about weight loss although I honestly think you have to be malnourished for it to really affect growth.
My teens will always eat home baking, any chance of making some for afternoon tea? It's generally pretty nutrient dense

My son is 13, 5 foot 8 and about 50kgs. His school doesn’t always make it easy to eat because their canteen is packed so I make sure he has a good breakfast.

It’s generally something like home
made waffles with protein powder in, scrambled eggs and bacon.

Lunch is a hot flask of chilli, rice and cheese or pasta with meat, sauce and cheese.

When he comes home he will snack on oat cakes, fruit or have a protein shake.

Then dinner is usually a massive portion of whatever dinner is - protein heavy with lots of veg. He will usually then ask for porridge or something at bed time. I struggle to keep him filled up, to be honest. He’s also a boulderer.

I would be slightly worried with a teen who thought they were "chunky" and was loosing weight if they were actually slim.

I think my DSs must be quite unusual when I read these threads?

DS1, now 26, wasn't a particularly big eater at home, although he did gain weight in first year at Uni. Probably due to eating more unhealthy/fast food than he was used to at home.

DS2 is 17. He's 5'10" and weighs 9st 3lb, which I think puts him in the healthy category?

For breakfast, he has 2 slices of toast.
Lunch is at 6th form - always a main meal with a slice of traybake.
Tea at home is the usual stuff - spag bol (or whatever other pasta dish), chilli, cottage pie, chicken fajitas. He has a bigger portion than me, but no bigger than his dad would eat.

He rarely, if ever, snacks. So the comments about making food at 4am, and eating entire chickens are alien to me.

I grew up with four older brothers, and there's no way my mother could have afforded for them to be eating a full box of cereal each in two days, or cooking them a roast chicken each to snack on!

My son has access to extra food in our house, he just doesn't seem to need it?

He's very sporty, but doesn't attend a gym (if that's relevant). He plays hockey at County level, and cricket at local level.

Ds(21) was a bottomless pit at that age and sprouting upwards before our eyes. He’d have a large bowl of porridge and banana for breakfast. A wrap with a full chicken breast/salad at school break at 11am. A school dinner at 1pm. Then full dinner again at 5-6pm. By 8-9pm he’d be hungry again and snacking on chicken/eggs etc.

Yes, I do think his weight is being influenced by his hobby - he’s mentioned a few times being chunky and when I’ve asked why he thinks that when he’s clearly slim he’s said he’s chunky compared to the other guys at climbing/bouldering. He seemed surprised he had lost weight though and said he wasn’t trying to.

I think I’ll try and increase his protein, and maybe homemade snacks like flapjacks would appeal to him. He doesn’t eat pudding by choice - I do offer it. He’s never had much of a sweet tooth.

If he thinks he’s chunky but he’s actually slim, I’d be concerned about anorexia. Could you talk to him about this?

9 stone 3 at 5 foot 10? That sounds really underweight.

Loads 😆

But he trains 4 hours a day in the pool 5 days a week and 3 of these days does and hour gym work too!

If he’s losing weight and can’t afford too and exercises I’d look at adding chocolate milk drinks to his diet.

My son is 5 foot 8 and 8 stone 7. He is skinny as a rake and still only 12 years old though so hasn’t filled out yet after an insane growth spurt over the last year.

What sort of centile was/is he on?
I've got a slim built 15 year old. He couldn't afford to loose 4kg.

There are days when he eats more, and days when he eats less, but, on average:
Slice of toast and 3 eggs
Sandwich, cubed cheese, apple, crisps, cereal bar, veg sticks, sometimes a biscuit.
Flapjack and or fruit
Dinner - as much or more than me, and I'm not slim.
50:50 if he comes downstairs go raid the fridge around 8pm.

My ds is 16, 6ft and skinny. Also very sporty and physically active. He eats
Breakfast - big bowl of porridge, followed by a bowl of Berries with Greek yogurt.
Morning break - croissant
Lunch - hot meal option at school canteen
Home from school - cheese and crackers
Dinner - home cooked meal and pudding
Supper - bowl of cereal.