To put locks on the fridge?

[LotsOfLoveAndSarcasm]

Ok half lighthearted but ...

Does your 16 year old eat like all the time? Mine seems to be eating as much as all of us together! Of course I know he's growing up and he needs the energy/nutrition, but he's putting a serious dent in my food budget

I guess I'm just wondering if you try to manage this or just let him be? Do you say "no eating after 9 pm" for example? fed up of waking up to a pile of dirty plates in the sink

When my no2son was a teen he had his own fridge in his room - just one of those small "beer cooler" ones, round about a 2 foot cube shape, and a kettle on top of it.
He ate ordinary meals with us, and if he wanted "extra rations" he used his own money for supplies and did his own thing in his room.
The one rule was, if I smelled anything remotely dodgy, the whole lot was gone
He is now a professional chef!

Good thinking lol I hope you make him cook for you now he's a fancy chef
Did he eat at night too?

I don't have teenagers yet, but I remember when my siblings and I were around 16 we bought our own snacks with our money. I can remember regularly nipping out to the corner shop for a pot noodle. Or the chippy if it was open (it used to shut around 8pm but I always wanted chips at 9 or 10pm). I used to treat myself to cake from the bakery every Saturday when I got paid. Ah those were the days

I have no idea when he ate - he was paying for it, he cleaned up after himself, and it didn't impact anyone else, so I just let him get on with it...
He lives and works away now, but when he was still at home he would happily cater family parties, or the family Xmas dinner for up to 20 people without breaking sweat and it was delicious :D

Claudia pot noodles were a favourite, in fact they still are with my younger gluttons DC

@PomBearWithAnOFRS I've not had one in years! I wonder if they are as good as I remember?

Yes, I should add that at 16 if I did any cooking I cleaned up after myself. I often cooked myself late night snacks and Mum never minded as long as no dirty plates left in the sink...

Yes, teenage boys and young men can empty fridges quicker than you can blink. Mine (23 and 21) will still open the fridge door and sweep all potential food items into their stomachs with barely a blink. They’re pretty efficient at emptying the freezer too.
Breakfast - a quick look and see there is half a large gammon to eat whilst they make scrambled eggs with 6 eggs topped with that packet of salmon that’s just sitting there going to waste. They don’t worry about dirtying glasses and just drink whole bottles of juice in a single gulp. The fruit bowl obviously looks sad with all that fruit in it so they’ll just help by emptying that to finish off.

Well he will clean after himself occasionally, more and more often now so my nagging loving observations are working.
Claudia pot noodles are a favourite here too, my DC love them.
crumbs yep that's exactly what happens here. I don't know how they don't get indigestion lol

Hahaha @Crumbs1 you have reminded me what it was like living with my brothers! People often comment on how fast I eat, but if I didn't eat fast I didn't eat!

Mine (23 and 21) will still open the fridge door and sweep all potential food items into their stomachs with barely a blink

At that age they are old enough to be more considerate of the rest of the household before guzzling everything in sight.

Teenagers can be thoughtless but should still be taught to check something isn't needed before finishing it off. By their 20s I'd be very annoyed if they didn't check first.

Depending on his age, height and weight he needs up to 3200 calories. That is double what I at my size and age needs.
Let him eat unless he is gaining too much body fat.

I don't buy the expensive things that tend to disappear quickly (and aren't good for them anyway) anymore, so there are no sugary cereals, crisps, chocolate bars in the house. That does seem to curb their appetite a bit, but there's always loads of fruit, bread, cheese, eggs, porridge for them to help themselves to if they're really hungry rather than looking for a sugar/junk food fix.

Mine is 14 and despite eating meals together regularly appears in the kitchen to carry off the contents of the fridge and cupboards to her room. I did have to laugh the other day when she had ran out of hands/ plate space and disappeared balancing a cheeseboard on one arm, with a packet of crackers and a banana hanging from one pocket, plate of sandwiches in the other hand.

I don't mind at all, she's good about checking if it might be something I'm planning to use in a meal, wouldn't eat my share of anything special and it is 99% savoury rather than junk. And doesn't leave a trail of destruction either.

It would be a lot cheaper though if she had a slow metabolism and didn't need to consume so much.

Trojan Mine will sometimes ask and sometimes he'll "forget" to check with me (I suspect when whatever it is he wants to gobble up is very tempting)
black no he doesn't seem to be gaining weight, and he's also very active/exercises often. So at least I don't worry about that. He is growing taller so I'm assuming that's where my fridge is.
Tips I'm going to do that, though I don't buy crisps and sweets that much (and yes they disappear very quickly!) but I will just stop buying altogether.
TheHog haha that made me laugh. You're lucky that there is no trail of destruction though, mine will bring the empty plates/cups downstairs and put them in the sink but not wash them. To be fair I tend to leave plates until it's time to load the dishwasher so maybe he's just copying me.

Apparently teengagers eat more because their pituitary gland is going haywire sending out signals to grow. Their bodies are in go-go mode so need to eat more to support it... which doesn’t do the cupboards any favours! They especially crave high fat foods apparently

lots mine does the same, except sometimes needs reminding that I can't serve dinner if she has all the plates. I meant more doesn't leave the kitchen full of dirty cooking stuff or the surfaces covered in stuff.