How Much Should Teenagers Eat?
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My son is 13 and has an obsession with food thats been going on for years. He is slightly overweight, not as much as he used to be because we have cut out most unhealthy foods at home. He will eat 5 adult sized meals a day and still want more. He used to have breakfast here, pop in my mothers on the way to school and she will give him toast, chocolate and cans of pop, then he eats in school, he will then go to my mothers after school and eat a load there, then come home and is rummaging in the fridge and cupboards until tea (he will have a bigger portion than us) then he asks for dessert. If he has money to go out he will spend it all on food and drink, he spent £60 of his birthday money in 3 days on food and drink from the shops when out playing. At the moment ive stopped him having money to go out unless its to get in somewhere thats charges so he cant buy food and i let him take some flavoured water bottles and healthy snacks in his bag. He has breakfast, dinner or whatever he chooses in school and he has to come straight home for tea. He is allowed fruit, yoghurts etc when he comes home around 4 and then we have tea at 7. My wife and I are on SW at home so we usually have takeaway once a week as a treat, but he isnt allowed fizzy pop.
I just dont know what to do anymore and its really stressfull. I dont want him to get picked on (a few people have called him fatty etc but its stopped lately as he has gone taller and lost a bit of weight) but i know if i dont keep it reigned in he will be massive.
I have spoke to the GP and they tested him for coeliac and did his bloods and the results were fine. They basically told me to watch what hes eating.
Every argument we have at home is food related and i cant cope with it anymore. Am i doing the right thing in trying to control how much he eats or am i being cruel?
I don't know what to say Kirstey. I think this is a minefield because any advice could easily be taken amiss and everyone will have a different opinion. Utmost care must be taken, as I am sure you know, because if it isn't already an eating disorder, it could become one.
Two things spring to mind. Ask your mum to stop feeding him........if she isn't aware of your fears then she needs to be told. Secondly, get him involved in some sort of sport. My grandson has being playing football for a little league since he was about 5 and at 10 is still into it. He has recently taken up table tennis which might be more appealing to your son.
Other than that, I am loathe to say more.
Lynibis ive told my mother for years to stop feeding him crap but he starts shouting and crying if she doesnt feed him and she shouldnt have to put up with that 
thats why he now either has to come straight home or if he goes there ive told him he wont have tea when he comes if he eats there as that would be his tea. He has been playing rugby for 4 years which has been great because otherwise he would probably be very overweight. Ive just had enough of all the arguments and shouting over something so stupid 
I can relate, as I was a fat kid, perhaps catergorised as morbidly obese at one point, and I remember full well what it was like - I loved food, especially the bad stuff, and there was nothing my parents or anyone in this world could do to stop me; if I was told I was fat, I’d respond with ‘I don’t care’ (I did deep down inside, and it did hurt, but I knew that eating was providing me a source of comfort from the unpleasant words). And the more I was told things I didn’t want to hear, the more I rebelled by eating. It was only one day when puberty kicked in that I decided to make a change, but then I got obsessed with exercise and losing weight, and people started to be concerned that I was too skinny
So although I can’t say if your son is going through the same things as I did, I believe that being the age he is, he won’t respond to you in the way you would hope. And as he will go through a growth spurt soon, he will need the extra calories, even if he is certainly consuming quantities exceeding the recommended daily amount. I suggest just sitting down and having a chat about it, a calm discussion where you tell him how you feel (that you are concerned and that you just want to protect him as you are worried about him and his future), and give him the opportunity to tell him how he feels, as his eating habits may be rooted to his mental state more than anything else. It is he alone that has to decide if he wants to (and ready to) make a change to his lifestyle or not, but I’m confident he will
Thank you for your reply. When i was his age i didnt care about food being healthy or unhealthy i just ate what i wanted and my mother let me, but i never had a problem with my weight. The last few weeks he has gone to the gym a few times with his friends but still comes home and asks for crisps and chocolate Ive tried having a chat with him but it always ends in arguments. Im hoping that he will decide to change his ways for the sake of his health and so that he doesnt end up being the victim for bullies. Theres only a few years left where i get a say in what he does so hopefully something will click if not he is going to end up morbidly obese. I hope not though because hes a handsome kid 
KirsteyJames lol I’m sure he’ll be fine. He is getting to that age where he will care more about his looks, and if he has the right friends, they will push each other to be fitter - he perhaps just sees the snacks as rewards after a workout, so definitely doesn’t want to be stopped. It is indeed very hard to have a chat with teens, as they do think they know it all (I can imagine it only being worse nowadays lol), but you will get a chance to have a heart to heart one day when the right moment happens...just try not to do it when he is reaching for his snacks, as there can be a tendency for people to be hangry (anger from hunger lol). You’re a good mum for trying 
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