How much is too much to eat?

[Conifer]

Lately my almost 10 year old DS has been eating me out of house and home. He has seriously been eating more than twice the amount I eat in a day. Example: breakfast 2 bowls of Cheerios, 3 packets of oatmeal, an apple and then he goes to school and eats breakfast there too! When he comes home he immediately needs a snack and then wants another. Then for dinner he will eat say a chicken breast, rice, lots of broccoli and then still want more to eat so I will let him have some healthy choices like yogurt or fruit which he will eat and then want more!!! I try not to be too controlling about food and I figure that he is going through a growth spurt (he grew over 6 inches in the last few months). He is not overweight at all. Most of his food choices are very healthy (very few sweets). My husband (who is his stepdad) is saying that it is ridiculous how much he eats and that we shouldn't let him eat like that. I would agree if he were eating chips and candy all day, but he isn't...it's mostly wholegrains, dairy, fruits and veggies. Sooooo is he eating too much? Is it normal for kids to go through this at this age? Anything I should do differently? lol...more importantly...am I right or DH?!

[mamazee]

10-year-old boys are growing at an astonishingly fast rate and need a lot of food. Yes, more than an adult woman. Maybe even more than an adult man. The closer to puberty and adolescence he gets, the more he'll eat. So long as they're healthy foods, I'd let him go at it.

[possum]

I should start saving $$$ for the day my son starts eating like my brothers and guy friends did when they were teens.

I think it is important to help your son make wise choices about food, but only he can know how much food his body needs. I think it would be very hurtful and unproductive to try to limit the food of a growing child. As you mentioned, he is growing really quickly, and he needs lots of nutrients to do this.

I would consider adding in more protein and fat to his diet which will give him more of the nutrients he needs and will be more filling. Eggs and and buttered toast for breakfast would be far more filling and nutritious than cereal, oatmeal, and apple (mostly carbs) and almost as quick to fix. If he can't fix that by himself now, he would likely be able to learn to do it very soon. Nuts and nut butters are great for adding in good fats with snacks to help him feel full and give him more nutrition than say just a piece of fruit.

Hang in there. I hear it slows down in a few years!

Melinda

[daisymama12]

Originally Posted by Conifer

I figure that he is going through a growth spurt (he grew over 6 inches in the last few months).

My kids are younger so I don't have any advice, but I can imagine him having a huge appetite if he's growing at that rate!!!

[dairy2dogs]

I agree with the others. Don't limit his food, he needs it for the astonishing rate he's growing right now. I would second increasing the protein and fat. It will keep him full longer. And don't worry, the growth spurt will stop soon and he'll slow down on the eating.

[Oriole]

All you have to do is walk into an elementary school, and see what size the kids are in fourth grade, and then walk into a middle school, and compare to eighth graders. "They grow so fast!" takes on a whole new meaning.

Don't limit the food, where the heck is the child supposed to find the energy for being a kid + growing?

We had a nephew staying over for a month, it was ridiculous how much he ate, out of this world! But I really think they need it.

[tinuviel_k]

Welcome to the next eight years of your life! It is totally normal, and will come and go in spurts. I remember this well from my little brother, and from my competitive-gymnastics sister. Growing kids, especially very active ones, and especially boys, can go through the most amazing amounts of food. Your husband probably did the exact same thing at a similar age but doesn't remember.

It sounds to me like you are doing things right: providing great healthy meals and snacks to your growing son whenever he needs them, offering fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. My only recommendation would be to add more of protein and fats, especially in the morning. Cheerios, oatmeal, and apples are easy carbohydrates and burn through the body right away. If I ate a breakfast like that I would need to eat again in a few hours, too. He needs something more sustaining first thing: eggs in addition to his cereal, sausage, butter in his oatmeal, whole milk yogurt, etc. For snacks I'd add nuts and cheeses in addition to fruit.

[enkmom]

My 19 year old son has just come out of this. He and 2 friends could polish of a 9 x13 cake at once, with a quart of milk apiece. Recipes I had that once easily fed the 4 of us were almost an appetizer for him. After the cake incident, I had a talk with him about being more thoughtful about the rest of the family, but otherwise I just stocked up and let him eat when he was hungry. I always kept lots of fruit in the house, and lots of lettuce for salads. I would roast a chicken or buy bits of ham so he could add that to his salads, along with shredded cheese and some sunflower seeds or homemade croutons. I also sent him off with lots of snacks, so that he wouldn't starve after practices or events; this way he wouldn't come home and eat most of the dinner himself! He never had a weight problem either - he was just hungry and needed the energy to grow!

As a forewarning, your son is also going to start sleeping a lot, too.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by Conifer

I figure that he is going through a growth spurt (he grew over 6 inches in the last few months). He is not overweight at all.

Yep, sounds totally normal. If you are really concerned - say he's losing weight despite eating well - then you could check with the doctor. Really though, this is pretty typical.

I agree with the advice to add in more protein to his breakfast, lunch and after-school snacks. My 17 y.o. ds will go through a jar of peanut butter in less than a week.

[Storm Bride]

I would try to get him eating more protein in the morning - maybe more fat, too. He's eating a lot of carbs early in the day.

To answer your question - "too much" is if he's getting fat, imo. (I mean rally overweight, not just a little bit of "extra" - some kids seem to put on some weight just before they sprout up again.) Once the growth spurts start, kids eat an astonishing amount of food. When ds1 went through his "six inches in a few months" spurt, he was 12. He also put on width in his shoulders, and just generally got bigger (not fatter - just bigger - he also put on 35 pounds in that time). He was eating more at dinner than dh and I combined. DH and I are both plus sized, and it's mostly because we have poor portion control. I can clearly remember ds1 eating four chicken thighs at dinner one night, along with sides (probably rice and salad), and he snacked again before bed. He's had a couple more small growth spurts, but not quite like that one. These days, he doesn't eat anywhere near as much, but I'm expecting one more growth spurt before he's done. I've never worried about it. He's active, in great shape (he competes in high school gymnastics, and does well), and happy. He obviously needed/needs the food.

ETA: On a practical front, does he like hard boiled eggs? I keep cold ones in the fridge for me, as I find preparing something with protein a big hassle in the morning. I just peel them and eat them. My bff keeps hers already peeled, but I don't like the texture when I do that. Anyway - just a thought - if he likes them, keeping a bowl in the fridge is a quick way to make sure he gets an early morning protein hit.

[gingsengmom]

welcome to the world of "how-in-the-heck-can-he-still-be-hungry?. My ds started around that age and at first it takes some getting used to. He is now 13 and I let him have his fill, as others here suggest. As long as the food is nutritional and he is at the desired weight for his age, let him eat.

[Conifer]

Thank you posters! I feel a lot better. He's the oldest of 4 kids so I just wasn't sure that my instincts were right on this. I will continue to let him chow down! I am also going to take some of your suggestions. I hadn't thought about hard boiled eggs. He loves egg salad and deviled eggs so I bet that would be a good option. My DSS (my husbands son) is really small for his age and hardly eats anything so I think it is frustrating that my DS eats so much. Plus its a money issue. Food that we used plan to last the week is being eaten in 1 or 2 days. He ate 3 boxes of Cheerios last week. I'm going to start giving him eggs for breakfast...they are cheap and packed with protein. That should help lol! We also buy trail mix, just not enough! If anyone else has snack and food suggestions that would be easy (as in I don't have to stand in the kitchen all day preparing this kiddos food lol!) please let me know

[sapphire_chan]

Do you have a deep freeze by any chance? A side of beef would do wonders for your budget, although not much for your prep time, but I'm sure there's a way to do some preparing that'd let him cook for himself.

[mamazee]

Cheerios are pretty expensive if you look at cost vs nutritional value and how filling it is. I'd go for hard boiled eggs and that kind of thing too. It takes a lot more cereal to fill someone up than eggs or nuts.

[Just1More]

I'd let him eat, too, as long as it's healthy. My dh has an extremely high metabolism and STILL eats a ton. It's terrible for my food budget. When he's away on buisness, I can feed the 4 of us on less than a third of what a spend when he's home. A chicken lasts us all week. It doesn't make 2 meals with him home!

My ds is much younger (only 2.5yo) but he gets very, very hungry and eats a ton sometimes, too. He has to eat a gluten-free diet, and it's hard to get the bulk he needs with fruits and veggies, and selective grains. He eats cheese, but nuts and meat are still too hard for him to eat in large enough quantities to help. What I am getting to is that yes, they need protein, but they also need fat. If I am sure he gets enough fats he is much less hungry and more quickly satisfied. A lot of the standard "healthy" foods don't contain much fat, so it may help to evaluate how much he is getting, and if you could up it a bit. Like, maybe add a tablespoon of olive oil to a bowl of rice, or something like that.

[Storm Bride]

Fats: Plain nuts. Butter/coconut oil added to things. Peanut butter. Olive oil drizzled on salads (or even some cooked veggies...or noodles). Maybe cheese...

I'm not coming up with anything else at the moment.

[Conifer]

Tonight I told DS "ok so starting tomorrow I am going to make eggs for you for breakfast" he says "REALLY?! Yippeee!" lol... it was like I said he could have ice cream for breakfast he was so excited. We normally only do eggs on the weekend.

[Chicky2]

This is why we garden, and have livestock for milk, eggs, and meat, lol. This is why we learned to forage for edibles (great family project!), and why we take up every offer to pick any kind of fruit (plums, berries, persimmons) or nuts (pecans, pecans!!) that is offered or we can ask about. Otherwise when my kids hit that stage, we're in trouble, lol! Actually my 11 yo dd is starting it lately. She's JUST turned 11 and a size 10 women's shoe! I am seriously saving cash in a can for her next set of shoes/pants. I know it's about to happen. The last week at supper she has astonished me! One night she ate 4 BIG pieces of quiche, several oranges, 3 huge bowls of Asian Salmon noodle/veggie bowls, and last night was 5 burritos and then went back for baked oatmeal w/goat milk. The leftover quiche (3 pieces) and all the oatmeal was gone when I got up this morning. And we just got a quart of milk from the neighbor last night after supper. It's almost gone, and she is the only one to have had any so far.

[moonlitemama]

Just wanted to say thank you - to the OP for posting this and to everyone who has given replies. It has seriously made me re-think food issues. I'm going to work very hard at letting my kids decide how much/when they eat. Not that I've been overly hard-nosed about it before, but this has allowed me to think harder about breakfast choices and availability of snacks.

[nextcommercial]

If he's not overweight at all, and still eating pretty healthy, I wouldn't be too concerned. (But, I understand why you are)

I remember my brother going through that. We'd come home for lunch, and he'd make three sandwiches with lunch meat, and then have two glasses of milk. He'd inhale those before I even finished making mine. Then after school, he'd eat a HUGE bowl of captain crunch cereal and then whatever else he could find, and go out to play. He'd eat a huge dinner, then another snack later. It got so expensive that my mom started making huge batches of chili or pasta and leaving it in the fridge so he'd eat that instead of eating a week's worth of groceries in one day.