About DS and food

[brotherhoodofspam]

DS 10 yrs has always had a good appetite but recently he never seems to be full. He's always looking for the next meal or snack even when he's just eaten. I know he's at an age where this is fairly common but the trouble is he's starting to get quite chunky (wears aged 12 clothes for width rather than length) and things came to a head this morning when it transpired that he'd got through a box of cereal (multigrain shapes) that was supposed to be 11 servings single handedly in 3 days as well as having toast laden with jam for breakfast. DH and I have said that breakfast will need to be more closely supervised and I've suggested we have porridge which is more filling. We're just worried because neither of us are slim and he doesn't do huge amounts of exercise - active at playtime, a couple of after school clubs, walks the dog (for about 5 minutes). I don't want to give him any issues with weight or food so have tried taking him for more exercise (swimming as a family, cycling whenever I can persuade him away from the TV etc) and restricting sweets, cakes, crisps etc (we generally don't keep these in the house) but he'll get really cross with me and cry that he's hungry even when he's just had what I think of as an adult size portion. Things aren't helped by MIL who shows her love through feeding (a whole other thread and we've had words about it several times). Today after the cereal debacle he asked if I was calling him fat. I said that he's not at the moment but if he carries on eating like this that would be the risk and it's no fun going through school (and life) overweight as both DH and I know. I keep hoping he's going to have a huge growth spurt and suddenly stretch but doesn't seem to be happening. Any advice on what else we can do without making too big an issue of it? or is this normal?

My child tends to say she is very hungry constantly if she is bored. Could this be the problem? It's a habit when in the house? Anyway I would (and do) only offer healthy snacks like buckwheat/rice cakes or nuts or whatever and if they are turned down then they are told they can't be that hungry then!
But yanbu if you're concerned about his weight

Could you encourage him to drink more? It's really easy to mistake thirst for hunger, I have to be mindful not to do it as an adult. Get him to drink a large glass of water and then wait for ten minutes to see if hes still hungry. If he is still feeling genuinely hungry after trying that for a while, when you know he should be full, then it might be worth a trip to the docs.

My 9yo DS is like this atm. He'll have an adult sized portion of dinner with plenty of protein and a drink... Then an apple... Then a wrap with peanut butter... Then a yoghurt and he's still complaining about being hungry!!!

He's as skinny as a rake though, so I'm not too worried about his weight.

Not sure what to suggest I'm afraid!

Eating too many carbs can apparently cause feelings of hunger quite quickly, although growing children do need them. Lots of MNetters recommend adding in more protein to a DC' s diet, e.g. eggs at breakfast, chicken or fish in other meals, etc.

In fact there's a good thread at the moment about teenagers' voracious appetites if anyone can link it. (I'm on kindle.)

My two both tend to bulk up and then shoot up in cycles - the first of which was about age 10 in DS2s case and a bit later in DS1s case.

Not that you should presume that will happen which it doesn't seem that you are.

DS2 isn't what you would call fat, but he isn't slim and a lot of that is simply that he isn't as slim a build as DS1 - he is currently 13 just short of 6 foot but is finding 32 waist jeans a bit tight - he hasn't grown for about 6 months so hoping that sorts itself out soon. DS1 is 14 and over 6 foot and easily fits 32 waist jeans but when he was 12 he was a bit chunky - neither are exercise freaks and can eat a box of cereal between them in 2 days.

In your case I would try the suggestions above and maybe try to include protein in every meal to fill up too - porridge is a good idea - use the sachets and you have a defined portion. Some of it will be physchological too - put his food on a smaller plate so it looks like a massive portion, used thinner sliced bread so he feels he has a full sandwich but it's less calories. If he has a good diet then he wont eally be needing full fat milk etc. Bananas are very filling in terms of fruit so alwasy suggest that if he is hungry maybe.

Thanks for a lot of really good suggestions. We already use smaller plates but hadn't thought of thinner sliced bread. I usually offer him fruit if he says he's hungry but he'll then often eat 2 bananas. Hadn't thought of adding more protein which is a good idea, I think think he does have quite a lot of carbs so it's an interesting idea that that might make him hungry sooner. We'll also try suggesting big drinks of water when hungry. Here's hoping he shoots up soon!

I was like this as a child and teen and have always struggled with my weight.

Whatever you do, don't do what my mum did when I was about 13...paid me to lose weight .

Have you tried keeping high protein, low GI foods available and basing his diet around them? And water, lots and lots of water. (I've also never really been able to identify thirst)

What I find strange is that during the week they have breakfast about 7.30am and don't get school lunch until quarter past one - i've asked and neither of them take anything out their lunch at break. They don't usually start shouting for food until 5.30ish although we often eat at 5.

Yet, at the weekend, although they wake early, they wont eat breakfast until 9.30/10ish, but start shouting for lunch about 11.30/12.00 and regardless of when lunch is eaten, they are desperate for dinner at 4!

I presume that at school the mental occupation is better than that of gaming at the weekend/not being allowed on screen until after dinner.

OP, it's on the teenagers board, the 'unable to fill up my teenager...' thread. Sorry I can't link it.

It's full of great ideas, especially for those of us who need to be budget conscious.

Boys do tend to 'chunk out' as they hit puberty. They get solid, eat like a horse and get on the cusp of fat........and then they beanpole! Seriously they grow and grow and grow and they eat and eat and eat!!!! They generally go back to a similar proportion within a few years just 6ft tall with size 10 feet lol
Personally I would encourage healthy food choices and ensure that he is active but not worry too much. He will grow and grow soon!
My youngest is just starting to get the 'solid' that happens before the crazy eating!

Mine is just beanpoling. We're having to work on the chunking out because he was on the verge of underweight!

He's taken to making himself toast.

A protein breakfast would be great. With carbs their blood sugar shoots up and down, whereas with protein it stays quite even for several hours.

Could you not turn the TV off?

Definitely increase the protein. So eggs, lean ham, chicken with the skin removed, cottage cheese, seafood sticks. All these things can be prepared and kept in fridge for snacking.

If he fancies crackers go for the Ryvita crisp breads (only 19 Cal's each).

Remove all visible fat from meat that you provide at meal times and swap mince for 5% fat.

I would second the they eat an eat then grow and grow. Cereals are awful stuff though - switch to weetabix, shredded wheat or shreddies to fill them up. Toast is OK - can you do brown bread or even 50/50 is better than white, try some savoury toppers - does he like marmite? Marmite and ham is good. I think the key thing is to keep the carbs good and low in sugar. I actually don't think under 16s should have anything low fat as they need it for vitamin transporting, but they shouldn't overdo the sweets, chocs, crisps and cereals. I am someone overweight now but a bean pole as a child so it doesn't always follow that you keep to what you were at that age. I still think its Ok to be a bit chubbie as a kid (a layer of fat not blubber) as its back to having the energy for exercise, growing and brain work etc - often there is also an element of puppy fat in some types e.g. Italian heritage. Hand the control to him and teach him what and why about food - what they learn in school isn't enough at the moment

Thanks for all the suggestions. Reassuring to think a growth spurt might be on the way. I'll try the high protein thing though unfortunately he's not a big fan of meat and doesn't like eggs (would probably easily turn vegetarian). He does like marmite and all our bread is brown. It's generally not unhealthy food, just far too much of it but I do take the point about cereals and will try to change this. Might take a bit of weaning off. I'll have a look at the thread about filling teenagers - sounds really useful.

Fish finger sarnies are an easy high protein breakfast. Nuts aren't low in fat, but are highly nutritious and filling and good for snacking. DS1 isn't so keen on salted nuts, but likes fruit and nut mixes

If he's not a great meat eater you could try some lentil recipes for protein.

Iv started playing wii with my kids as the active games are great for an hour on a nighttime