Why Do Young Children Seem to Eat All the Time?

[esavvymom]

Ok...so I've heard people talk about having teenage boys in the house and how much food they can consume....but my boys are 8 and 5 and they just eat all the time it seems!

Breakfast- 7am-7:30am time frame usually
Breakfast #2 - 9:30 or 10am
Lunch - ready for it by 11:30
Snack- about 2-2:30pm
Ready for dinner by 4:30- so will usually be rummaging in the pantry if I don't stop them.

Dinner at 6-6:30
Asking for dessert or nighttime snack by 7:30-8pm

Where do they put it!? Thankfully, we don't keep much "junk food" in the house...so if they get into things- they find cereal bars, whole grain cereals or tortilla chips/pretzels, fresh fruit, home canned fruit....stuff like that. They eat reasonably healthy, and we don't have disproportioned portion sizes (I'm a "lifer" with Weight Watchers)- but man they can just eat!

I am so screwed for when they DO become teens!

*by the way- just because they ASK for food between meals, doesn't mean they always get it *

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I hear you!

My DS, who has always been a light eater, has become an eating machine this summer! He is thin as a rail, and we don't have a ton of junk food here either, but today, this is what he has eaten: (so far!)

Breakfast: Big bowl of whole grain Cream of Wheat (made w/ milk, not water) and a glass of apple juice

Snack: Banana sliced with Peanut Butter spread on it

Lunch: Cheese Ravioli w/ pasta sauce, bowl of grapes, glass of milk

Snack: Frozen Fruit pop, and a cheese stick

Dinner: "Cheeseburger" (hold the burger), sliced tomato, baked beans

Snack: cup of Yogurt

AND I made a fresh Rhubarb pie after dinner, and he keeps asking when it will be cool enough to eat!


I keep thinking if he eats like this at 5, how much food will he be consuming at the age of 15?

 

[Curlyone]

Oh, you ladies just wait and see...... I have a 19 and 20 year old who we call the "Human Garbarge Disposals". To the tune of almost $1000 a month grocery bill! :cry: It is not so bad when they are away at college, but then I have to pay for a meal plan there too. He just goes to the all you can eat dining hall to fill up.

 

[esavvymom]

Oh, you ladies just wait and see...... I have a 19 and 20 year old who we call the "Human Garbarge Disposals". To the tune of almost $1000 a month grocery bill! :cry: It is not so bad when they are away at college, but then I have to pay for a meal plan there too. He just goes to the all you can eat dining hall to fill up.

That's what scares me!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

That's what scares me!!

Me too!!!

 

[Jennie4PC]

my son eats around 8 and then beteen 9:30 and 10 he tells me he forgot to eat breakfast. he never ate like this while he was in school. Hopefully they are all going through a growth spurt right now.

 

[raebates]

Roving bands of teens--boys or girls--can decimate your food stores. Seriously. The Furry Guy would come home and say, "I thought you went shopping." There would be nothing left. And, trust me, the girls were as bad as the boys. I watched. It's amazing.

 

[colegrovet]

be glad if your teens don't work on a farm... when I was a teen, I did and my normal day was..

breakfast 6-8 eggs 1/2 loaf bread, 1/2 gal milk.
mid morning raid fridge...
lunch 8-10 hotdogs or anything not nailed in fridge in the fridge, 1/2 gal milk
mid afternoon snack, 3-4 sandwiches
dinner, 3-4 helpings of what ever was fixed.

if I ever did make it to MCd's it was 3 1/4 burgers, 2 fish sandwichs and fries. (they didn't have biggie sizes back then... )

when my DS and DD were teens they played sports, and they kept the fridge empty!

 

[Crystal Patton]

My boys are soo picky (ages 7, 4 and 2) they soo little right now and I was talking about my concerns with my Mom and her sweetheart. Her sweetheart, Phil who raised 2 boys, said there would be a day when I would regret teaching them to eat.

I'm afraid, very afraid. LOL

 

[pamperedpals]

For this exact reason we raise our own beef and pork. I have three boy's and they eat like crazy. My youngest (3 1/2) wakes up saying "I'm hungry!"

I do wish I had an ounce of their energy though.

 

[raebates]

Many parents of teens find it hard to know when they are actually hungry, since they're always grazing. Here's the trick. Hold up a piece of cold, cooked broccoli. If they're grabbing at it, they're hungry enough to be fed.

 

[baychef]

That's what scares me!!

IT SHOULD!!!! Grocery stores would be doing themselves and parents favors if they offerred the "conveyor belt from our shelves to yours" option...and I had ONE boy!!

I grew up on a farm and remember my grandmother getting the breakfast dishes done and then the kitchen table became the homemade donut, pie or filled cookie making table. This table could sit 8 people around it so that is one big cutting board!!!

 

[Saturday Gourmet]

Rae is certainly on the money with the girls being as bad as the boys. My little girl can hold her own with my son any day of the week.

Right now, I think they are both going through growth spurts. I had just finished washing the supper dishes last night when my 5yo DS said, "Mama are you gonna fix supper? I'm starving!" He apprently forgot the 2 helpings of the chicken pasta, corn,
3 servings of mandarin oranges, 2 helpings of broccoli, and the 2 mini-vanilla ice cream sandwiches he had for dessert. I reminded him and he replied, "Oh yeah....I forgot. I'll just have a cheese stick." I swear I don't know where he holds it, he's skinny as a bean pole. There are times when he won't hardly eat a bite, but more and more those times are fewer and farther between.

 

[esavvymom]

Rae is certainly on the money with the girls being as bad as the boys. My little girl can hold her own with my son any day of the week.

Right now, I think they are both going through growth spurts. I had just finished washing the supper dishes last night when my 5yo DS said, "Mama are you gonna fix supper? I'm starving!" He apprently forgot the 2 helpings of the chicken pasta, corn,
3 servings of mandarin oranges, 2 helpings of broccoli, and the 2 mini-vanilla ice cream sandwiches he had for dessert. I reminded him and he replied, "Oh yeah....I forgot. I'll just have a cheese stick." I swear I don't know where he holds it, he's skinny as a bean pole. There are times when he won't hardly eat a bite, but more and more those times are fewer and farther between.

Sounds familiar. Do you ever wonder if they are just bored and have gotten into bad habits with food (*as many of us adults are known to do!)???

 

[beepampered]

My 16 year old neice was here commenting several times on her mom's plus-size figure. I was biting my tongue as she ate through chips/dip and multiple desserts. She's in for a rude awakening when her metabolism slows down (and she's not tiny right now.).....

 

[Curlyone]

Many parents of teens find it hard to know when they are actually hungry, since they're always grazing. Here's the trick. Hold up a piece of cold, cooked broccoli. If they're grabbing at it, they're hungry enough to be fed.

Rae, you are too funny!!!:love:

 

[scottcooks]

I get the biggest kick out of my DS telling me about "his frog" (the sound that rumbles in his tummy must obviously be from a frog). He tells me I need to listen to my frog more, so I don't eat so much. He told me 2 days ago that maybe I have 2 frogs in my tummy (sad, but I anticipate WW to steer me toward about 100 lb. weight loss)... Energy that matches my enthusiasm, Here I Come!In fact WW starts on Thursday for me. Conference couldn't happen $$-wise, but when I walk next year, I anticipate turning lots of heads with a smaller, healthier version of my current self!

 

[raebates]

Rae, you are too funny!!!:love:

Nah, I just steal well from funny people.

 

[Aunticooks]

Good luck to us all. My 2 stepsons are here. 18 and 17, I swear that they put everything in their shoes. Sizes 14 and 12. I agree with be careful with teaching them to eat good food. Their are both the PICKIEST eaters ever. Wouldn't eat red meat until 2 years ago. Now the youngest always goes for the biggest and most expensive steak on the menu on the rare occassions we go out. AND HE ORDERS IT RARE!!! I told him to take a fork and knife out to the cow field and get his own steak!! heeheehee They also hate veggies, mayo,mustard on their sandwiches so they eat double meat dry!!

Moral of my story. If you teach your children at young ages to like fruits and veggies it can be a lot cheaper in the long run. More filling foods at cheaper cost.

 

[Saturday Gourmet]

My little guy and gal eat a lot, but they do eat good. Their faves are broccoli, brussel sprouts, and green beans. As for fruit, they like it all! Right now our raspberries are coming in. They are loving that, they pick a few and eat a few. They also have their own little garden and are getting things like cucumbers and squash out of it now. They are extra eager to eat because they grew it.

They are LOVING the new pineapple wedger. I also just got the Egg Slicer Plus to do kiwi with (I can't slice it quick enough)! I totally agree with you, teach them when they are little and they will eat healthier and a greater variety. I always gave them things to try, even I didn't care for it myself.

 

[kreaser]

here's the perfect solution: I have 5 kids ages 19, 16, 14, and 12 year old twins...I told them at the end of the school year:

"you will all be issued a meal ticket card, just like at school...you get breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1 snack...when it's done, it's done!!!" LOL

My grocery bill is outrageous in the summer ...at least during the school year, I can monitor the "intake" of food! Oh how I love summer!!!!!

I grew up with 12 brothers and sisters...so I learned a lot of tricks from my parents...LOL

And, yet we still say: "oh they grow up so fast...enjoy them now while they're still young.
Well, I say, if I just don't give them food, they wont "grow"...LOL