AIBU to let them eat when they're hungry????

[happylittlefish]

Basically, have 4 teens - all terribly thin with massive appetites! Cant satisfy them! Friend came over today and spent the whole day here. Only had the 14 yo here (others were out) and friend feels the need to tell me that I shouldn't let him keep eating because its 'too much'. This really upset ds - he already has body image issues which he's overcoming. He's really thin but always hungry. This is what he's had today:

4 Weetabix, cup of milk, banana
Apple, grapes, flapjack
Chicken sandwich, crisps, cucumber sticks, babybel, yogurt, pepperami, cereal bar
Slice of toast with peanut butter, cup of milk, strawberries
HM spaghetti Bolognese (big portion), salad
Grapes, mini cookie pack, cup of tea, some sweeties, raspberries

This is typical. Friend - I felt - was really rude. She mentioned 'cutting down his intake'!!

Is this a normal amount for a 14year old?? What do your pre teens/teens eat in a day? Are they all so thin?

My SOL who has three sons (now all grown and left home) used to say she couldn't remember what their faces were like when they were teens as all she saw was the back of their heads as they were always in the fridge or the cupboards looking for good. I remember the sheer volume they could consume used to horrify and fascinate me in equal measure

*looking for food not good

My SOL who has three sons (now all grown and left home) used to say she couldn't remember what their faces were like when they were teens as all she saw was the back of their heads as they were always in the fridge or the cupboards looking for good. I remember the sheer volume they could consume used to horrify and fascinate me in equal measure confused

we used to tell visitors not to stand still in the kitchen incase the kids ate them.

Sounds fine, he fit, active, slim, and GROWING. Even my DD packs in an extra meal before growth spurts, and hers have slowed right down. I think it would be cruel to restrict their intake when they have ribs but feel hungry- they obviously need it.

Wow! Some of the posts on here are ridiculous. He is a fit, active, slim, growing boy and what some people are recommending is essentially high protein weight loss diets. He doesn't need to lose weight. There is no harm eating carbs if you are using the energy they create.

I actually saw someone on here the other day suggesting a toddler be put on a high protein low carb diet! It's ridiculous people are so brainwashed by the weight loss industry that they've lost sight of what is a healthy diet for growing children.

I can't believe some of the comments suggesting the OP 'offers' him one or the other or 'swaps in' foods either. He is 14, not a toddler! And perfectly capable of sorting himself out aside from family meals.

Bill - but a higher protein diet for most does mean they eat less snacks in between

4 weetabix to me seems pointless as just wheat with very little nutrition and sound like he's still hungry after anyway. A couple of eggs, with some beans/ mushrooms and a piece or toast would be more filling and nutritious. The amount of money saved on the snacks can go towards the extra cost of that type of meals.

Sweets, plus cookies, plus flapjacks, plus all the other snacks, plus cereal, seem just encouraging lots of snacking. Surely it would be better to encourage another small meal or two with actual food instead

There's nothing wrong with snacking as long as the energy eaten in snacking is used up. And this young man is using it. Again, that is looking at it from a weight loss point of view and from the point of view that eating is bad and something which must be reduced and eliminated.

This boy does not need to be on a weight loss diet. The whole point of food is energy. And he is using up the energy he's putting in so there is no problem. He doesn't need to stop snacking and it is not a destructive habit for him. Rather it's a constructive one which is getting him the energy he requires.

My son is nearly 14 and eats loads. He is tall and very slim the doctors have even told him to eat more as he has had a few fainting episodes due to the fact that there is nothing to him so when he starts being active his body has no spare to use up. I always think as long as they are eating their meals have extras does not hurt.

Bill - but there's a diffenence in snacking on a boiled egg/ piece of cheese or a banana than cookies/ sweets/ cakes

Nobody even high end athletes need cake. ( and most wouldn't ever touch it)

I know some athletes who have competed for GB and they love cake and chocolate bars. They tend to eat better when preparing to compete but will happily eat a mix of healthy/unhealthy food while doing their normal training.
(They also went out and got hammered on a 21st birthday celebration recently)

I think the idea of more protein is about filling him up for longer not as part of a weight loss diet. And of course carbs are fine - but there are more nutritious, filling choices that can be made which might help keep him full for longer without adding too much sugar to what essentially seems like a very well balanced diet. Occasional sugary treats are OK but not every day and especially if they're of limited nutritional value otherwise.

I would second the advice about swapping the lunchtime fruit for an extra sandwich - a couple of filled baguettes with plenty of salad will be a bit more filling.

God, Im hungry now after all this talk about food..

My nine year old would eat like that most days and has visible ribs (which is how it should be). Friend is clueless and rude

I wish someone had told my mum that teenagers need more food. I was starving all the time and she would ration out food because she was terrified that I'd get fat like she was/is.

I'd have a bowl of cereal at 7.30am, a ham sandwich with a fat free yoghurt and a piece of fruit at lunch time and nothing until 6pm, when we'd get whatever beige shite she'd moved from the freezer to the oven. I was so hungry and ended up stealing food from the cupboards/biscuit tin. Then I'd get caught out and she'd call me greedy and sneaky

Then I got a part time job, bought junk food out of my own pocket, ate it in secret and went from a size 10 to an 18 in three years.

I have all girls under 13 so no experience

But my friends boy who is 13 has FIVE weetabix for breakfast he is stick thin

My older sister also told me her shopping bill went down by £50 per week when her 19 year old son moved out, he was also a thin boy

Just to summarise his food today (so far), he's had:
Big bowl porridge, banana, raisins, chopped nuts
Banana, grapes, flapjack (these are no added sugar homemade btw), carrot sticks, hummus
Chicken sandwich on granary, apple, yogurt, fridge raiders
Slice toast with peanut butter, cup of milk
2 wholemeal pittas, chicken chunks, pineapple chunks, salad
Some more grapes 😁

Tbh, if he quit the snacking he'd be in danger of losing too much weight. He's like a little string bean 😊 all my kids eat loads, even 12 year old DD:

4 Weetabix, milk, strawberries
Banana, flapjack, grapes
Ham sandwich, yogurt, apple, crisps
2 slices toast & peanut butter
Same as ds for tea minus 1 pitta
Some carrot sticks and iced gems 😎

The replies on here are really encouraging to see that they are normal 😄

Sounds normal to me -?we have teenage nephews who eat constantly , not an ounce of fat on either of them

My husband is very tall and slim, when he was a teenager, the running joke in the family was that he had one meal a day that started when he got up and finished when he went to bed!! He literally ate constantly, all day! He was swimming competitively at the time so burnt it off.

He's 49 now and still tall and skinny!

Your lunch sounds the same as mine when I was growing up I now hate sandwichs and yoghurts.

That sounds like a really decent healthy diet for a growing boy. Your friend is an arse.

I wish my 13 year old boy ate even half...... even a third of what some of your boys eat :(

awesomeness, what does your ds eat? A few of my friends ds's don't eat much either - I guess it varies person to person. Is he underweight/

Mine couldn't eat all that. Most these long lists just seem like snacks even at lunchtime for example
He's six. Today he's eaten:
Breakfast - poached egg, toast and beans
Lunch - mousakka and Greek salad
Dinner - chicken and mushroom stroganoff, rice.

Might have some watermelon before bed if he wants.

He's a teenage boy who is very active. Leave him alone, and tell your friend to fuck off with her comments.

My 16 y/o had today

Some crisps

Pint of milk

6 pieces of garlic bread, more milk.

A full roast dinner, plus dessert, He has no fat on him.

If your ds was overweight and /or gaining excess fat ( as opposed to the extra 'weight' due to growth) it would be too much. If not, it is clearly fine. I think it sounds completely fine. The odd biscuit, cereal bar etc - if some oeople think that is an unhealthy diet they clearly eat a restrictively 'healthy' diet. Balance = good. Some Growing kids need lots of food and they should all be having a balanced diet including fats etc. Restrictive diets un teenage years can lead to health problems later on e.g. poor bone structure, problems with periods ( not your ds obviously), not reaching full height they could have etc.
you are doing fine - ignore those who are wierd or rude or both.