my teen eats too much

[lettysmith21]

I have a teenage son and eating is an obsession. He has ADHD and eats constantly. I am very concerned about the amount he eats. He is not overweight, which seriously suprises me. He eats huge meals and then anything that isleft in the kitchen. If I say no, he acts like I starve him. Does anyone please have any advice? Thank you.

Has he had his thyroid tested?

Eating lots without putting on weight (or even whilst losing it) and ADHD are both symptoms of an over active thyroid.

What age is he? Do you think he is just going through a growth spurt? In my experience teenage boys eat ridiculous amounts of food. They seem to burn it all off.

Just make sure you don't have any junk in the house so he fills up on toast, bananas, yoghurt, hummus & breadsticks if he will eat them, cereal

Not crisps, fizzy drinks, chocolate, general crap

I have a teenage son, and I think he eats about 4000 calories a day, but he is very active. We don't have any fizzy drinks etc in the house, but he does get hold of them buy buying them with his paper round money. One evening I went out, and when I came home he'd eaten a pack of ic-cream cones as there was nothing left to eat after he'd cleaned us out of everything else.

Teenage boys do eat a lot.

If he's not over weight I wouldn't worry.

I came on to say what mama and captain said.

Is he eating because he is hungry or is he eating for the sake of it?

Protein is good for long lasting fullness.

Teenage boys eat. A lot. They will empty the cupboards so I'd make sure they were full of healthy stuff.

When you say he eats constantly, what do you mean?
If you could list his intake for a typical 24 hours, it would be easier to tell if it is normal or not.

Teenage boys do eat vast quantities.

I am stunned at how much ds can put away and he's only 12.

teenage boys can be like a plague of locusts in the kitchen

My teenage ds had hollow legs....sheesh the amount....an entire loaf of bread in a morning, mixing bowls of cereal.....

6ft 4 and 11 stone am very jealous

My DS1 (16) eats huuuuge amounts. Always has his head in the fridge and takes literally seconds to hoover a plate of food up.

Most teenage boys communicate with grunts and open and close the fridge and food cupboards repeatedly. (In case anything appears in there that wasn't there 10 seconds ago). They consume everything in the house then complain that "nobody" has been to the shops/bought any food/ cooked anything to eat etc. Then they go out and buy kebabs and lager, bring them home and fall asleep on the sofa with their face in the kebab wrapping.

This comes as a shock to first time parents of teenagers, but it is normal.

It sounds as though you feel your situation is worse than this. Does your DS have a HCP who offers support/supervision or advice? Maybe you could ask them, or talk to your GP?

Thank you everyone. He is 17. I believe it has something to do with hos ADHD or his aspergers. It is nice to know that other parents have a similar problem xx

Thank you. I am very concerned about him.

If I allowed him, he would make himself ill.