Is this too much for a snack?

[SingingOutOfTune]

My 12 years old gets home from school and has 3/4 Krisprolls with lots of honey and peanut butter and 2 small glasses of milk. This is around 4 pm. We have dinner around 8. Is this too much? I know he is growing and his weight is fine but I am a bit concerned. Can mums of teens on Mumsnet give me some perspective? Told him off today for having a second glass of milk and hated myself after. Don't like controlling what he eats but it seems excessive for a snack

Surely if his weight is fine, he is growing ok, concentrating at school, his behaviour is ok, he’s not exhausted and pale etc, he’s eating enough? If he’s finishing all his meals and asking for more, he’s hungry. Feed him. Its not like he’s fat and eating rubbish.

We are late eaters... and we seem to be getting later with the DC midteens plus.... but we’ve rarely ever eaten before 7 and usually nearer 8... and yet we are not Spanish! When DS was 10 I tried the kids eating early thing... he just needed a whole other meal later as well so we quickly reverted to our normal snack after school and supper later regime. But hey that’s fine there is no need for everyone to be the same.
Likewise with volume of food for teens... particularly boys! DS eats like a horse one day and not so much another and is reasonably well built but active, healthy and not overweight... his “skinny as a beanpole” friend by contrast lost weight in the school holidays last year although he was eating stacks at home as usual... it transpired that this was because he wasn’t supplementing his intake with sausage rolls and other pastry delights from a well known high street retailer like he did in term time on the way to and from school. His DM had to up the calories of the grazing food available at home as the fruit and other healthy snacks were insufficient for his needs! What seems enormous amounts for some is just sufficient for others and that’s just how it is... I just wish I could have been in the needs to eat like a horse and still be skinny category rather than the eats bugger all and looks like a whale one🤣

Only have young ones as yet so no hungry teenagers for me but find it really interesting.

My elder siblings all had enormous appetites and seemed to eat constantly on top of 2 big meals at home and huge packed lunches.
I had the same appetite and was fed the same i.e to eat to hunger after school etc then a later dinner due to working parents.

my siblings were healthy weights but I just got heavier and heavier until I finally learnt to just eat less than them.

So interesting but seemed so unfair!!

I’ve never really lost my appetite size but definitely have to choose my food carefully so I can be full but not over eat.

As part of managing his weight as he grows up you have to let him learn to self regulate rather than micro managing what he eats. Whenever my mum commented on what I was eating when I was younger it just made me eat in secret.

Lots of judgement on the time of dinner at 8pm it that's the time my family have dinner and my son is 4. I know it's late but I don't finish work til 6, 1 or getting home then picking him up from my folks then home!!
I need to work to put that food on the table!

1 hour or so getting home I meant

why would would you say parents reporting what their active teenage (boys) are eating is "boasting". What a bizarre word choice, and it definitely exposes your own prejudices on the topic. Why so hostile?

I used the word 'boasting' because some posts were ridiculing toward OP in tone.
Indolent have a prejudice, whatever you may think I have, just an opinion.
There was no hostility unless you are determined to find some where none existed.

Second, your implication is that these sports, active teens are mostly all eating way beyond their requirements, hence the obnoxious face. Is your implication that they are setting themselves up to be fat? That we as good parents need to police what they eat and install a strict eating schedule or else we would be contributing to the obesity epidemic? You need to unclench

Being concerned about what your teen is eating is not 'policing' THAT is a strange choice of word! Not being concerned what and how much your child is eating IS possibly contributing to the obesity epidemic. It's common sense!
Using the term is ridiculous....as is you need to unclench. You may not like what I said but don't assume that means unclenching is required. Grow up.

Milk is good not a drink. It doesn’t quench thirst

You're getting a bit of a hard time op! That realisation that teen boys neeeeeeeeeeeed food has maybe happened very fast for both of you?
Concentrate on snacks full of protein, fat & calories. If you're going to cut out or limit anything make it sugar. Peanut butter on brown bread with milk sounds perfect. Get him cooking his own omelettes, have cold chicken & salad in the fridge. Let him whip up his own chicken roll. Boys of that age are very interested in cooking because it's a fast track to food!

My 5 and 8 year old eat a far more substantial snack than that and eat evening meal earlier. Before people start going on about obesity both are very slim

Nanny
Milk is 87% water and has even been recomended as a good drink after sports to rehydrate due to its other components.

No, being concerned what a normal weight sporty adolescent is snacking on IS ridiculously controlling. Obesity is extremely multifactoral, highly linked with poverty, and should not be a worry for a middle class, athletic adolescent who has a balanced diet at mealtimes. They need the calories, cholesterol, calcium, protein, and carbs to fuel themselves. I certainly don’t need to grow up - you need to let go a bit.

That is way too much for a three year old and bed at 10pm???

Milk, especially chocolate milk, is the ideal post recovery drink.

It solely depends on the child, Ds would be ill with that little amount (motablism disorder) on average Ds eats around 3500 calories and it still isn’t enough, due to mobility disorder and active live style.

*lifestyle

@mathanxiety thank you for the link. Finally had a chance to read and it's helpful.
And showed that I don't need to be overly concerned but that he shouldn't be eating more than he already is. His calorie intake should be around 2500 a day as he isn't super active. So I am not that wrong. He is definitely having more than that. Also the type of food he is eating is mostly fine.
I believe in mealtimes, not eating in front of TV all the time. Respecting food in general. I think some people were very harsh about me being controlling. I keep an eye because he is my son and I am responsible for him and want him to grow up healthy. I had a slip in telling him about the second a glass of milk and immediately regretted it. It is not an be everyday occurrence me telling him off about food. And he is 12. Not a 15 years old. He hasn't even changed his voice yet. So very much a child. But I can see the first signs of puberty so as I said before I need to get used to this new phase that is starting and see how it goes food wise. And try to guide him where I see it's needed.

oh god why are you not allowing him as many glasses of milk as he likes.

Good for you OP for asking the question and realising he will need more as he grows older. Also not sure if anyone has mentioned just buy semi-skimmed milk?
As for the posters moaning about demonising hunger ..... you wouldn’t want to meet my DS when he’s hungry ....!

Teenage boys are incredible!! Have a selection of foods on hand..it is almost as if their bodies drive the need...cheese/dairy protein, carbs seem to be needed in cycles and then suddenly their clothes don't fit!! I would say it started age 11. If they are not overweight then be led by them. My DC comes in has major snacks (cheese on toast etc), then tea (around 6.30) then supper, then snacks 😂 He is 6ft and 55kg .....I wish!!

Teenage boys eat loads. You wait this is going to get much much worse! When my son was in full swing he ate all meals with portion sizes bigger than my husband, got through a jumbo box of cereal every couple if days, are tons of fruit and bread/toast on top of that. And he is skinny as a rake. It’s completely normal. Growing children (especially teenage boys it seems) need a LOT of calories. If he’s not overweight and eating reasonably healthily I wouldn’t worry about it.

Oh, yes. I have a teenage rower and now have twice a week grocery deliveries to cope with the sheer amount of food he hoovers up.

To the posters who are saying that their sons or men are drinking a litre of fruit juice - are you really ok with that ? Shouldn't we encourage healthy choices in the ones we love ?
There is a fuckton of sugar in fruit juices. Yes you are better to eat the fruit and drink water or milk instead.

All this angst over such a basic bodily function: eating.

Buy mainly healthy unprocessed food. Plenty veg and fruit. Eat according to appetite.

Teenagers eat, sleep, grow and poop. Why are we so obsessed with the 'eat' bit.

Probably because society has lost the plot due to the fact that only the 'eating' part can be marketed and

monetised.

If you buy healthy foods and drinks your DS will eat or drink them and you will be teaching a subtle nutrition lesson without lecturing.

Don't leave items like nut butters, hummus and other such goods on the supermarket shelf out of concern over fats. Growing boys need some fats - some vitamins (vit D for example) are fat soluble, and there are other reasons to include some fats. Let him eat eggs and drink milk.

Please don't count calories unless your son shows signs of tipping into obese territory, not just 'overweight'. Boys can appear a bit chubby before a growth spurt. Try not to be anxious.

It is far more dangerous to expose a child to parental anxiety about food and body perception than it is to allow him to eat what he wants when he wants from a well stocked fridge and cupboards.