To think this isn’t really enough food for a 13 year old?

[ChocolateCrepe]

DS has been given 2 slices of a supermarket pizza, 4 chicken nuggets, a handful of fries (literally about 12) and a few cucumber chunks for his dinner

I think this is nowhere near enough food for a growing teen
The adult who gave him the food thinks it’s plenty and I’m being silly

DS is far too polite to ever comment if he didn’t think it was enough but I’ve made him a sandwich and he is now eating it happily

WIBU?

Where in the OP's post does she say that's a regular meal? Many families have a "treat night" on a Friday with food they wouldn't eat on other nights.

Why do some people have to be such arses when the OP was clearly asking if it was reasonable to give the same portion to a 4 year old and a 13 year old, when it's obviously not.

But it wasn't just pizza, it was also 4 chicken nuggets a handful of fries and cucumber chunks. Perhaps the child may have a snack after before their next meal. Even as a woman I would find 2 piece's of pizza, nuggets, chips and cucumber a bit much

When we have pizza might I cook one plain 12 inch margarita and a 12 inch with toppings and place in the middle for everyone to help themselves. My 10 year old only ever eats 2 slices and leaves the crust, but my 13 year old eats more. I don’t count out their slices though. They stop when hungry.

For some meals I eat the same size portion as both my 10 and 13 year olds and I’m a fully grown adult. But I prefer to eat small and often and can’t cope with big meals.

If PP is concerned the 14 year old is not eating enough as it’s the same as the 4 year old I’d be more inclined to say the 4 year old was getting too much. But to be honest it depends on the kids. My 8 year old nephew can eat twice as much as my 10 and 13 year old daughters but he’s built differently and is taller and stockier. My children are always offered pudding (yoghurts/fruit/cake/biscuits depending on what’s in and they choose). My 11 year old niece can’t believe I offer pudding at each meal!! Different families eat differently.

As for the packed lunch, get the 14 year old making his own if he’s not getting enough when dad makes it.

This is peak MN

2 slices of pizza, 4 nuggets, a handful of chips and cucumber is going to come it at around 550 calories

A teenage boy needs approx 2,800 calories a day

can you really not see the problem?

@Togoodtobeforgotten "even as a woman"? As a woman you need fewer calories than he does.

Two people now have responded saying my post doesn’t understand that teen boys often need more food than teen girls, even though I state that one of the teen girls would have been starving with those portions and needed much more food. I only had same age girls in my census, but they were enough to show it could be insufficient even for a small, petite, girl. That I happened to mention the other teen who seems to survive on air and the glow of her cell phone was just to point out that caloric needs vary.

It’s not a case the 13yr is being greedy or over fed

but it’s strange a 4yr is given same size portion as a 13yr

fwiw my 5yr would share a pizza this size with a friend so 1/2 each. Not a1/4

That amount of food would last me 2 meals with all the cucumber left over but that's me, a grown woman, I'd say a growing teenager would more than likely need more than this.

Id agree with you as most teens at 13 years old are having about the same as a small adult. I work in a restaurant and very rarely serve kid meals to children under 10/11. I alway place kids menus down on the table to give them a option but most children would order from the adults.

My 15 month old would eat more than that.

All these posts on here re teen boys and eating habits from people who are cluelessz

i have three of them - and it isn’t unknown for them to have a pizza express pizza each, as their after school snack.

One is 17, one is coming up for 15 and the other 13 - and they each eat one right after school when they are starving hungry as many kids are.

All are super, super lean (youngest is actually very thin) and the older two are muscley athletes with very low body fat!

That poor, poor lad. Not least because he’s hungry when dad is prepping food , but also because asking for more won’t get him anywhere.

Have you ever considered getting treatment for your eating disorder, @Harmonypuss ?

Some pizzas are bigger than others. It also depends on what else they have had during the day etc. I used to put a pizza on a plate and let them take what they wanted with yoghurt and fruit for desert. I can remember my DS having a friend to stay and they were about 10 years old. I put out a plate of breaded chicken legs that I made and had baked in the oven, about a dozen. They had jackets, coleslaw, veg, fruit etc. I thought that they would have had maybe 3 legs each, they ate the lot as well as helpings of everything else. They may be the best way forward and it will give you an idea of what DS wants to eat.

How would that last you for two meals?

Unless you are very very short and thin and need only 1000kcal a day to maintain your weight?

You realise teenagers are growing yes? Laying down body mass as they get larger and physically mature and need to support all the energetically expensive processes that are part of puberty.

I know a family who gives their 18month old, 4, 5 and nearly 10 year old the exact same size portions. They all get a happy meal at McDonald's and nothing with it. 9 year old is in age 6 clothing. Poor kids.

Because clearly, there is one.

@Harmonypuss 2 meals? Do you would eat one tiny peice of pizza as 10 inch cut in to 8 i a small piece and 2 nuggets and 6 chips all day ???
I have teenagers they can easy eat a 10inch frozen supermarket pizza both are not overweight , one id actually a little under

@Millsbills exactly there probably thinking 2 large sliced of pizza
But lets face it some on here could make a pizza last the whole week

Comes down to the child. Ds1 at that age would eat until we cut him off. He was a bottomless pit. Ds 2 is almost 13 and a would only eat a few chips possibly 1 or 2 nuggets if we push him. He does have asd and food is a real struggle.

It’s not enough if that’s his main meal of the day. But surely, at 13, he could make his own sandwich if he’s still hungry.

That has made me feel sick. Are you saying you know for certain the 9 yo is not allowed an adult meal? Have you reported this to the school? It may be that the child genuinely can’t eat more. However, it would be prudent to just pass the information on.

At first, I thought @ChocolateCrepe was in a shared care situation! OP, you live with the father, if you’re not happy, say so. Collate all the information first, then talk to DP!

I'm quite a bit older than most of you (although I’ve been 21 a lot in recent years) and when I was a teen, living with 5 adults and another teen (2 years older) with 3 adults being active men who worked hard, this is how meals usually panned out:

Breakfast: cereal or porridge with toast OR a serving spoon of rice with 2 serving spoons of Dahl (the men also got either a paratha or a chappati) OR egg on toast - all being dependent on the lady of house being up or not and being bothered to cook! She usually did cook and was up!

Lunch: schooldays would be either what was in the canteen or if you wanted to risk getting detention, the chippie for a small portion of chips and a coke (I was lucky, I never got caught).

Weekend lunches: usually stuffed paratha or chappati with last nights leftovers. If you had gone out, Wimpy on the high street for a cheeseburger meal! Weren’t allowed McD because their burgers were called “ham”burgers 🙄

Dinner: some meat curry, if chicken one piece each, if chops two each, or if something like potato chops (think like a scotch egg but the size of an individual pie and instead of egg, mincemeat curry wrapped in mashed potato and then covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried - my kids all still love this), usually one. Always with chappati and salad. The men got an extra piece of meat/chicken/whatever and always with one chappati each, men got two. Mincemeat curry was usually 2 serving spoons.

Sometimes we had a homemade dessert like Indian ice cream or Indian rice pudding, maybe gulab jamuns or jaleebi. Usually we all had fruit, lychee or mango, something like that.

At home, we always ate our cultural/regional food and I still do - luckily my DH likes our food!

I couldn’t tell you what the calories were that we consumed in a day, but I do know that I never felt hungry, which I think was to do with eating regularly. I think as adults we sometimes get so busy that we skip meals and then healthy eating/portions go out of the window!

I think what the DS had was fine with the sandwich. I know it was pizza night but I would prefer to see a side salad, some lettuce, tomato, quke and dressing is not hard to do. Even just use olive oil, some chopped coriander and a little lemon juice as a dressing. If the oven was on for pizza, perhaps DF could make some garlic bread with cheese?

I have to apologise as I do tend to go overboard with advice sometimes most of the time! I think it’s being a nurse! It’s always pounded into us to educate our patients, so I tend to just think everyone wants my little pearls of advice 🤨

I think you should explain to DF that yes, treats, outings, presents should be equal but food should be there on the table for people to help themselves! Even leftovers can be repurposed - side salad = salad for sandwiches! I’m going to go out on a limb, I doubt that any fries, pizza or cheesy garlic bread (if available) will be leftover. On non-pizza nights, could you just have bread and butter on the table for everyone to help themselves?

My own DD (17) has already eaten last nights leftover cheesy garlic bread, some of the pizza and is now chomping down on mashed potato from Thursday with gravy on it. Not sure what she’s gonna eat next, but there’s plenty for everyone.

I totally get that everyone in the UK is doing it tough right now so food waste would be annoying, but most food can be repurposed - I turn leftover curry into pies. Leftover potatoes can be used for so much, even little potato chops. I also always freeze leftovers!

That’s ridiculous for a 13year old boy - at his age I was eating a whole pizza (and I’m not overweight I was a gymnast)

Probably not enough.
You can't fill teenage boys and they eat everything non-stop.

I honestly don’t know why you are asking a bunch a strangers about an individual’s eating requirements - you were there. Let’s just say you were right and move on.

Half a pizza with veggies is what I used to give. My 18 yr old eats a full shop pizza though, with more sometimes! He did last night!