Dss (15.14% bmi) still Losing weight is his diet enough for him what do you teens eat.

[DaddyDavid]

I posted this in eating disorders but haven't had many responses.

My dss is on a waiting list for cahms and has suspected anorexia. He wants help and is eating more but is still losing weight 3 pounds in a week.

Dss has wheetabix or porridge for breakfast Innocent smoothie with breakfast.

Lunch at school- chicken sand which no butter plain. Or pesto pasta cold. I am not sure he eats lunch as I have no way of telling if he eats lunch.

Dinner we have healthy meals between 400-700 calories

How does he feel about food in general? Has he seen the GP to rule out medical reasons for his weight loss? How old is he?

That doesn't seem enough to me to be honest. He needs on average 2800 calories, he'll be doing a lot of growing right now.

He needs a lot of protein, iron and calcium.

If you're making healthy meals I'd be trying to stuff them with anything I can, like making tomato sauces for pasta dishes with spinach, carrots, peppers, just anything you can pack in so it doesn't necessarily look like a lot but you're getting more nutrients in.

Sound like he needs a lot more protein and fat too. Omega 3s are really important.

400-700 calories for a main meal for a teenager is nowhere near enough, especially if you're not sure what he's eating at school. He should be consuming about 2600 cals per day minimum.

Main meal needs more hidden calories, use cream and butter for sauces, add in flaxseed which has loads of omega 3, chia seeds etc as well as vegetables. 400-700 for an evening meal is not enough for a teenagers.

Wow 2800 calories is a lot.
I will try and put more calories in dss food. He doesn't snake at all as well should I try an encourage snacking.

He's 15 we have been to the gp and weight loss is caused by dss low calorie diet/ excessive exercising (we have stopped) it's going to be a long time till dss has a normal view on food weight and body image.

You should be encouraging any sort of food intake if you think he is anorexic.

I've read that for anorexic recovery it is advised 3 meals plus 3 snacks including a drink with each one.

Is there any sort of food he really likes and enjoys?

I hope you get some help soon because I think you do need it, nutrition can be a mind field of information so it'll be good to get some from the experts. Good luck OP and to your son too.

'hiding' calories like ladystark and I said is a good way to just get all that extra nutrition in there without over-facing.

I posted last May about my daughter and got fantastic advice. I will try and link the thread. Basically not nearly enough I'm afraid.
8 months later we are still on 3 meals and 3 snacks daily so basically eating every 2 hours during the day. Still same weight but much healthier and happier and no longer losing weight. So she eats 2,300 calories daily and is only just maintaining weight so I would assume a boy needs more.
My DD is a (very petite!!) 5'3" and eats the following to maintain her weight
Breakfast: porridge with berries and seeds with 2 slices of wholemeal toast with olive spread and jam
Morning snack: Chocolate coated rice cakes x 3
Lunch: wholemeal roll with peanut butter, apple, orange and carton of fruit smoothie
Afternoon snack: full fat seed yoghurt and oat bar
Evening meal: usual family meal approx 500 calories (her portions remain smallish)
and evening snack muller rice type desert.
With this her BMI hovers around 17.5 but as I say she has come a long way in terms of her general health
The other website recommended on my thread is a fantastic resource
Good luck!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/teenagers/2088625-Am-I-right-to-be-concerned-re-daughters-weight-loss

PS I contact my daughter's school and they were really supportive. They offered to supervise her snacks and lunch if necessary.
I think the threat of that was enough to make her eat in school!!
If you can work out the calorie target and organise his food to make sure he is getting that you will know if he is cheating because his weight will continue to fall.

Definitely encourage snacking, you can boost calories a lot with healthy snacks like bananas, rice cakes with toppings, toasties, toast and jam, cereal etc etc Whatever foods he is willing/able to eat and maybe even enjoy a bit.

Good luck, it must be very worrying

My DS is very thin, I think his BMI is 17.

He can go all day without eating, he just does not think about it. I found he was waiting for me to get home and feed him.

I have been working on getting him to eat more. I always make sure there is easy food for him to get. Peanut Butter, Chocolate Spread and Jams, so he can make himself toast, muffins or crumpets when he gets home from college.

I did a batch cook for the freezer so there are lots of individual portions of pasta sauce, chilli and curry so he can make something quick for himself if he is home at lunch time.

Growing boys do need to be eating a lot more.

I have 14 and 13 year old boys, they eat:

Breakfast:

Large bowl of cereal or porridge or toast with peanut butter/jam
Glass of Fruit Juice
(i know this is heavy on sugar but it's what they like and we have very little time to fart about in the morning)

Lunch:

They take a packed lunch - typical lunch will be:
a 2 slice sandwich with half and half bread, spread and fillings are usually cheese/salami/tuna sweetcorn/egg mayo or pb&j if not had that for breakfast.

something else protein/savoury depending on sandwich filling (and what we've had for dinner the night before)- could be mini sausages/chicken drumsticks/cheese and crackers/scotch egg.
2 pieces of fruit: banana/apple/oranges/raisins etc
and a biscuit or piece of cake or cereal bar.

when they come home they will usually ask for crisps - they can have them as long as they have a piece of fruit or some smoothie

Dinner:

They eat large portions - could be chicken and noodle stir fry/spag bol/cottage pie/macaroni cheese etc etc.

Supper:
Pudding and custard at this time of year or ice cream etc or a muffin or piece of cake.

They are very heavy on carbs and protein and are always hungry.

I'd say that was fairly typical of a teenage boy - that's not in a particular growth spurt - the they crave toast etc in between too.

He definitely isn't eating enough :(

Hope you get some help

There is a really good breakfast shake that Patrick Holford makes, Get Up and Go. That could be a good healthy start to the day. www.totallynourish.com/patrick-holford-get-up-go-300g/en

oh I would add that my boys get through about 2 pints of milk a day too (not full fat) The milk shakes are a really good idea - you can also add in Peanut butter etc for added calories.

14 yo son is over 6 foot tall and eats huge quantities of carbohydrates. Shepherds pie, pasta, pie or roast potatoes and 3 veg, huge bowls of cereal.

Daddy are your dinners home cooked or prepared meals ? How do you know how many calories in each meal ?

Give him a good quality multi-vitamin and mineral supplement too and extra zinc.

Patrick Holford's book 'Optimum Nutrition' has a section on providing nutrients to support sufferers of anorexia.

My 15YO skinny 6 feet 1" tall DS had a large bowl of porridge, made with half water and half semi-skimmed milk and a drizzle of syrup for breakfast. Sometimes he eats an apple or orange on the way to school too (and throws the core/peel in the nearest bush )Sometimes he has yoghurt and a banana or toast and peanut butter. Occasionally a poached egg on toast with beans. I think he'll have crisps mid-morning. Sometimes, a granola bar or chocolate biscuit. I'm not sure what he eats at lunchtime . Sometimes has a mug of soup or hot-chocolate after school, occasionally a sandwich if dinner is going to be late, or samosas or cake. We don't always have pudding after dinner. He snacks on fruit and sweeties, nuts and biscuits but it depends on what he's doing. Left to his own devices he'd eat less.

I would also add in full fat yogurts and eggs, lots of lean protein, nuts, beans etc. DS has porridge made with semi skimmed milk and topped with honey, plus scrambled eggs and bagels for breakfast (does lots of sport). Nutella is good to add to snacks too.

They are home made meals

Just a guestimate on the calories. Your ds are the same age but eat so much more. I will contact school and Im not giving dss any more money it all goes on diet coke he only drinks diet coke or water. Will also give him milkshake.

My 6'1 19 year old has passed the stage of huge appetite and struggles to keep his weight above 10 stone, don't know what his BMI is. He still eats far, far more than your DS.
He tries to eat as many calories as he can to put weight on. I don't like the ingredients but he does like protein shakes and protein flapjacks.

My 6'3" 16 year old is still growing and is unfillable.

A typical day for DS2
Breakfast cereal and toast and juice.
Lunch a very big bowl of pasta and sauce
Snack toast / cake
Milk Shake
Dinner home made shepherds pie and veg, a big plate piled high.
Sponge and custard
Evening snacks crisps / cake