Don't take a mother's distressed cry of "he's eating me out of house and home" as an
idle plea. He may just be doing that.
THE GARGANTUAN appetite of many a teenage boy has struck fear in the hearts of their parents who may have read an article or two about bankruptcy.
Teenage boys are the great gormandizers of the population. They are peerless when it comes to devouring carbohydrates, proteins and cholesterol-rich food groups.
Sharon Johnson has seen the binges -- half-a-loaf peanut-butter-and-beef sandwiches, a quart of orange juice, a two-litre bottle of soda, a 21-piece bucket of KFC, followed by a container of ice cream. And that's before dinner!
"My grandmother and I used to watch in wide-eyed, slack-jawed wonder at the amazing quantity of food my 15-year-old brother would snort down," remembers Johnson. "Whole loaves of hardough bread would disappear in one sitting. Actually, he never sat, she recalls. Most often he would stand in front of the open fridge door shovelling food down with one hand, while the other grasped for more."
His bony knees gave no signs of where the food was going. "We figured it must've worked its way up to his big, pointed ears. Where else would it have gone?" asked the communications professional.
"Growing up, my son was always a handful. By age 16, he would eat three eggs for breakfast, along with bacon, plantains, and at least half of a loaf (of bread)," says one mother of her 6 ft. 2 in, 187-pound teen. "He would finish the other half of the bread with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"At one point, I had to take him to the doctor to see if he had worms 'cause he never used to eat like that before he was 13 years old."
ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCHES FOR ADULTHOOD
Between 15 and 18 teens are completing their final major growth spurt, and are in the process of putting on nature's finishing touches for adulthood, say food and nutrition experts. For girls, the finishing touch means adding some fat padding. For boys, it means adding muscle and increasing the volume of blood. These changes often encourage girls to diet unnecessarily to stay slim, while boys may overeat to satisfy their appetites.
"Teenage boys have tremendous appetites and the requirement they have at this time in their lives will never be as high at any other point," says Dr. Joy Callender of the Downer Medical Group in Kingston.
"Teenage boys tend to go through growth spurts where they put on several inches in height and muscle mass in a short time, say over one summer. Because boys put on a lot of muscle tissue, they need certain micro-nutrients like iron, and fat, as well as carbohydrates, and protein," adds Dr. Callender.
Caloric requirements are heavily dependent on age, gender and activity levels and "luckily a lot of teenage boys tend to be engaged in sports so they burn off the fat quickly.
We don't have a big problem in obesity in the adult male population as with the female population where obesity stands at 30 per cent," notes Dr. Callender.
Cost is also a big factor in meeting the voracious cravings of your typical teenage boy. "The tendency where cost is a factor is to buy things which are cheaper but not necessarily healthier for your child. But there are ways to eat healthy and still keep costs down. There are sandwiches, porridges, cereals, and things they can make for themselves which are relatively inexpensive," says Dr. Callender.
In our hectic grab-what-you-can-when-you-can-world, fast food and snacks are also sometimes seen as quick, inexpensive avenues to satisfying the appetite. However, these are most often of poor quality -- loaded with fat, sugar and salt with little or no nutritional value. A diet that is made up heavily of these usually begins a pattern of overweight that continues into adulthood.
Teenage boys will have many other cravings to contend with as they grow up. Experts believe though that the most important issue is what they do with the appetite that they encounter during adolescence.
6 WAYS TO FEED YOUR TEENAGE BOY RIGHT -- AND SAFEGUARD YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
1. Buy whole grain breads so that he can make sandwiches himself.
2. Buy lots of oats, and oats-based cereals.
3. Macaroni and cheese. This is cheap and filling but you can also boost the nutritional content by adding vegetables.
4. If your teen doesn't like milk, try getting him to drink shakes, or smoothies. (Besides plain and chocolate, milk now comes in a variety of flavours. One of these may appeal to his palate).
5. As much as is possible, buy 100 per cent fruit juices (the ones without added sugar) as an alternative to sodas.
6. Foods high in iron are critical during the teenage years. These include meat, poultry, fish, enriched grains, beans and some vegetables. Mixing these foods in casserole or soups can make it easier to provide the amount teens need. Vitamin C also helps iron absorption, so add peppers, broccoli, oranges, and other fruits and vegetables to their meals to maximise their intake.
UNDERSTAND HIS
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS
IRON: The need for iron for both boys and girls increases between the ages of 11 and 18. The United States National Academy of Sciences recommends that teenage boys get 12 milligrams of iron a day, mostly to sustain their rapidly enlarging body mass. (For girls, the recommended daily requirement is 15 milligrams to offset menstrual losses that begin during this time.)
CALCIUM: Teens need extra calcium to store up an optimal amount of bone (called "peak" bone mass). The richest sources of calcium are milk and other dairy products.
SUGAR: If you are a very active teen with high-energy needs, sweets can be an additional source of calories. But keep in mind that they contain only limited nutrients and can contribute to tooth decay.
SALT: A moderate amount of sodium is necessary because sodium, along with potassium, maintains the water balance in the body. However, discourage your son from snacking too heavily on junk or fast foods. Processed foods often contain large amounts of sodium. Plus, use salt sparingly in your cooking or at the table.
If your son is physically very active he can deplete his sodium reserve, unbalance his body chemistry, and possibly become dehydrated. During training or competition, a dilute glucose-electrolyte drink may become necessary, but always with an abundance of water to make up for sweat losses.
