9yo DS constantly asking for food

[Exileinengland1999]

My 9 year old DS is constantly asking for food - like ALL the time. He isnt overweight and does a lot of exercise but it's literally every 10 mins.
He's been at home today recovering from a bug and this is what he has had (I haven't done weekly shop yet so actually haven't had much to give him)
2 weetabix & full fat milk
Rye bread toast with butter & marmite

Spaghetti hoops & a whole meal pitta with butter for lunch and a tangerine

Large plate of 3 fish fingers , peas & McCain chunky oven chips for tea plus a bowl of raisins and dried apricots. He also finished his sisters tea.

To me, this seems like a decent amount of food. The rye bread is pretty filling as is the whole meal pitta. Am I not feeding him enough? Am genuinely a bit worried as the asking for food is getting ridiculous - I got annoyed earlier as not sure how to handle it.

Aibu to think this is a normal amount of food? It hasnt been the healthiest day as I need to go shopping but he's asking every day.

I think it seems fine for a 9 year old Exileinengland. It maybe is just because he is at home and bored. How has he been at school? Does he have school dinners?

@careless yes, he has hot school meals so lots of variety like roasts & sausage & mash etc. He's always hungry after school, has snacks at the childminders and then a meal in the evening.
I was worried that he was obsessed with food but maybe it is just a growing spurt. He asks even after a big meal tbh

It doesn't seem that big tbh. Seems like he'd be better off maybe with two 'proper 'dinners ie meat and veg and potatos etc rather than fish fingers or spaghetti hoops?

I'd introduce some proper snacks rather than have him constantly grazing, which is not a good habit. Something like-

Pitta and veg sticks with plenty of hummus- lots
Peanut butter on wholemeal toast- lots
Cheese on toast- again, lots

Also stick a bowl of apples or something out that he can have without asking.

Boys' growth spurts are pretty mind-boggling. My son (bit older) often finishes a big meal (eg roast chicken, potatoes, 3 veg) then makes himself 3 slices of cheese on toast

Also more protein earlier in the day, but you've already said that today wasn't typical. Eggs for breakfast?

My 10 yo DS, who is just over 5ft has a bowl of porridge, a bowl of cereal and fruit in the morning. The porridge and fruit is 'proper' breakfast at 7am then if they get ready fast enough will have second breakfast at 8.15 before dashing to bus.
A sandwich or muffin for snack then a two course school dinner.
Something like Flapjacks, wholemeal muffins, a wrap, soup or yogurt when they get in from school before going out to activities
A full size portion of dinner, we all eat the same so stews, lasagne, fish pie, fajitas type thing.
There'll be more cereal at 8.30, the cereal eating has got so out of hand that I've said it's porridge now instead of 2 or 3 bowls of cereal.
He is super fit and not one ounce of fat on him but my god can he eat!!
My 6 yo isn't far behind either!
Just in case anyone think I have a skewed view of fat children this is the 10 yo.

if he doesn't feel like fruit, he's not all that hungry

I wouldn't want fruit if I was really hungry. It wouldn't fill me up. I don't get what's so great about fruit anyway. Isn't it mostly sugar and water? And some of it is quite acidic. One might as well drink a glass of water and miss out the sugar.

That's not a lot really and there's a distinct lack of protein. Pittas are not filling. My ds who is nine eats more than me when he's due a growth spurt. He's very active and not an ounce of fat on him. If he does start asking constantly he's pointed in the direction of the fruit bowl or raw veggies in the fridge unless it is close to a meal time. If he says no then it's clear he isn't that hungry. He has a tendancy to say he's hungry when he's spied something to eat that he likes, particularly at my dad's house .

Outside of mealtimes my kids help themselves to something from the fruit bowl. They will eat it if they're hungry but won't just constantly graze for something to do or because I've just done a shop and there's loads of stuff in they like the look of. I don't think kids should be encouraged to eat for the sake of it just because stuff is there.

That doesn't seem like a lot . My 6 year old is picky and doesn't eat much but my two year old today has had a bowl of porridge with blueberries , followed by one slice of buttered toast , a banana and two little fromage fraise yoghurts . As a morning snack he had a babybel and a pot of raisins .For lunch he had cheese and tomato sandwiches (2 slices of bread) , cucumber sticks , a bag of quavers then an orange . He had an afternoon snack of apple slices with peanut butter and crisp breads .
For tea he's had 4 fish fingers , chips and half a tin of spaghetti . And now he's eating a bowl of home made chunky veg soup and cold chicken from last nights leftovers . He is in no way overweight at all .

My five year old has had the same as him but she had mince and dumplings wish mash and carrots at school . She also had 5 fish fingers instead of 4 and a whole meal breadbun with her tea . On the weekends though she is an absolute nightmare - she will eat and eat all day , fruit , yoghurt , cheese and cold meat . We had to restrict biscuits and crisps for her because she would eat so much - she isn't overweight either , she's just turned 5 and wears clothes for 3 year olds !
Ironically it's my 6 year old who doesn't eat as much who is the chunkier one out of my kids

I agree with all those saying that's no where near enough protein. Protein fills us up not bread. He will be needing lots as he is exercising and growing x

Another one saying the meals seem too light and not enough proteins - my DC had more than 3 finahfingers as soon as they started school.

How about cooking extra for a few weeks and letting your DS eat as much as he wants? But don't worry about left over and don't force him to finish his plate. Just let him eat as much as he wants and see where he ends up in two weeks. That's likely to be his natural appetite.

FWIW my DS goes through phases of eating huge amounts, then he'll grow a bit and want less food. I let him eat as much as he wants (obviously limited sweets etc)!

Given you've said today wasn't a typical day due to not having much in could you give us an idea of what a more typical day of food is like OP? TBH what he has had today doesn't seem excessive for a growing nine year old but possibly not relevant if what he normally ways is different.
My two year old will eat a bowl of cereal with natural yoghurt and berries for breakfast followed by egg on whole meal toast then a snack of cheese cubes, veg sticks and houmous about 11, today he had three fish goin one for lunch with beans, a bit of mash and peas followed by a banana and for dinner he ate pasta with Quorn fillet in and tomato sauce with broccoli and carrots, he will also have a large cup of whole milk before bed.

I think he needs more protein, which is filling. Apart from the milk, he's only had fish fingers as protein. Try increasing his protein and see if that helps. If he's not overweight then he needs more food.

My DS never stops eating. He's always hungry, that's growing boys for you! Mine loves boiled eggs and soldiers, which seems to fill him up better than cereals. At the weekend we have our main meal mid-day and it's always meat based. He loves a whole chicken leg, corn on the cob and a jacket potato with cheese. At teatime we have meat or fish with salad.

On Sunday I always do a roast, with Yorkshire Puds, roasties, and a variety of veggies. We always have a pudding and custard as a treat.

Mine probably eats more than me, to be honest.

My DCs are constantly hungry at the moment, both very active and no weight issues. I am also thinking growth spurt so I have been trying to have a good snack available after school so that they are not grazing on rubbish.

It sounds like that's not a typical day's food.

I would say protein all the way.

Your ds's diet today is lacking in protein (I know it's all you've got today) but I find my skinny 11 year old is only ever not hungry when he's had loads of protein.

If my ds wants a snack he has cheese or chicken or a boiled egg. If I give him something too carby he's hungry again in no time.

I agree with the protein suggestion. However, my DS is 10 and he would everything that you've written, and a lot more besides. It doesn't matter how many snacks he has, he still eats all his dinner, with seconds and often thirds...

Agree with others, increase the protein - and you could probably quadruple the amount of veg, that is particularly good for filling you up.

Oh, and bananas are pretty handy for a quick boost. My SIL always swore by those when her DS was having a growth spurt.

Some boys (nearly all of them, in my experience ) eat incessantly. That didn't sound a huge amount but wasn't particularly 'good' foods.
My sons still empty the fridge as soon as they arrive home still. I filled freezer with £100 of food for them last week. Frozen ready meals, chicken fillets, pizza, prawns, lobster tails. It's empty within four days of them both being home. That's on top of proper meals. Their both over 6 foot, both very athletic, rugby playing, fit young men who are very conscious of their looks. They simply eat for England. They started doing so about 7 or 8.

Growth spurt. Boys that age need a lot of protein. Give the lad some scrambled eggs.

Hi OP, I wouldn't worry about your DS being obsessed by food, sounds like he's just hungry! My DD age 8 could easily eat what he's eaten today and still be hungry - she's like a whippet, tall and active and always hungry. Sometimes she's especially hungry if she's been under the weather, almost like her body has to catch up what it's missed out on.
We get through a lot of cheese, wholegrain crackers, cherry tomatoes and lean meat as snacks.

If he's been sick he could be in need of extra calories to make up for being sick? My dd is 8 and has been off school all week sick. Today shes feeling back on form and I can't keep her fed at all. She is very active and slim also. She had a bowl big bowl of cereal with a drink of milk and 2 slices of wholegrain bread with natural peanut butter, an apple and small cookie, yoghurt, ham coleslaw and lettuce sandwich on whole grain with grapes and carrots plus another apple, a hotcross bun with butter, salmon fillet with a serving spoon worth of stir fried veg and the same of noodles and another yoghurt. She goes through days where she is very active so doesn't eat much and then has a few days of the week where she makes up for calories she is missing. She is the tallest in her class but I have to take in all her age 8 trousers because they fit her in height they literally fall off her. Primark leggings hang off her like harem trousers.

If he is going through a growth spurt it would be worth stocking up on plain greek yoghurt pots he can add fruit or nuts to, packs of popcorn, bananas, individual hoummus pots to have with crackers or veg and I get the goodies range carrot cake bars, just pressed fruit and oats and taste like the Nakd bars only cheaper. Eggs are brilliant to fill them up, so cold sliced omelette for snacks.

I find it hard to work out whats normal for my kids because my own eating is crap but I let them lead really. I serve up kids portions but they can always have extra which they arent forced to eat and they can snack on fruit or approved snacks as long as it isn't just before a meal. I do tell them to have a drink of water if they are hungry but have eaten recently and to wait 10 minutes, if they are still hungry they can eat. I did speak to dd today about eating when bored when she had just finished lunch and wanted to know what was for dinner lol

Sounds a fine amount to me, not too much at all and fairly filling stuff. You say hes been asking for snacks every 10 min but yu haven't been giving them- so if hes hungry but isn't given a snack then hes going to continue being hungry and therefore keep asking over and over until mealtime. If hes not overweight, let him completely fill up at mealtimes, let him choose the amount, if he wants more, give it. Then if he wants a snack mid morning/afternoon give him one. He must be going through a growth spurt and growing kids can eat mountains- just wait until hes 15! I would agree more protein would help fill him up for longr, if its a growth spurt his body is probably craving protein as its needed for growth. I realise you probably normally do that though.

But there's no snacks there at all so are you ignoring his requests? Mine are always nagging for food. Definitely think boredom plays a part. It's so difficult providing endlessly healthy food.

It's not very much IMO but my 8yo eats more than I thought possible. I've always had a small appetite and he eats loads.

He has to finish what's on his plate unless he hates it - he tends to avoid the carbs as he finds them boring or tasteless (I have the same opinion) so I'm trying to encourage him to eat more of those as that's what fills you up. But if he's really done with dinner and there isn't any more he is allowed fruit, cereal with milk or bread (he prefers it toasted) with cheese and/or ham (the cheese and ham makes the bread more filling) and those are all things he can sort himself so he can have as much as he wants. They aren't as exciting as biscuits and crisps so he doesn't eat out of boredom and it helps.