advice re: feeding a 14 y.o. boy !
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advice re: feeding a 14 y.o. boy !
| Mon, 02-27-2006 - 4:11pm |
Okay, all those of you who own one of these critters, help me out! I have a 14 year old foster son that eats like a horse. I'm never quite sure WHAT to have on hand for him, what to send for lunches, what to have for after school snacks, etc. He has some terrible eating habits - he'd live on junk food if he was able, so he hasn't been much help in telling me what he likes or will eat. I know he's fond of pizza pops and chunky soup! Please give me some other ideas. I can barely get him to take lunch to school - he'd prefer to skip lunch and buy chips and candy. He also drinks between 2-4 litres of pop a day - gag! So obviously going heavy on the fruits and vegetables and "healthy" snacks right off the hop isn't going to fly. I need some reasonable alternatives that he'll actually eat!

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Well, I have 15 and 13 year old sons. My 13 year old has traded flavored waters for pop. While they both like cookies and snack cakes, I try to make sure that they have lots of healthy choices in the house. We don't ever have potato chips, cheetos, or Doritos. We do have reduced fat triscuits and cheezits that they devour. I won't buy poptarts, but I will buy the generic equivalent of Nutrigrain bars. They love string cheese, peanut butter (reduced fat), yogurt, and every kind of fruit there is.
My 15 year old loves Hormel turkey chili for a snack, and also canned beef stew (not the best for sodium content, I know, but there are worse things he could be eating).
I try to make sure that things in the house are easy to "grab and go." Fruit is in a bowl on the counter, grapes are in a bowl in the fridge.
Elizabeth
pretzels, crackers and cheese are about the only not total junk food like things I get down mine
Microwave Popcorn=it seems better than some other stuff and you can at least buy light
Ive had some luck with yogurt but it comes and goes
The key truly is 'quick' defined as 'instant'by my boys
Mine will always eat grapes but other fruits are hit and miss. They will eat canned fruit at dinner but not as a snack
Applesauce cups?
Kind of OT, but foster kids are known to eat like there is no tomorrow even when they're little. I work with 0-3 year olds and its common.
Often if the former life was rocky, the food supply was as well, and they take on a 'get it while you can' demeanor
Dont know if this applies to your guy or not
The 'experts' for the little ones recommend keeping fruit out at all times and not questionning or limiting in any way. It can take 6 months for them to realize it will continue to be there for them
Of course with a teen? Who knows which is which!!
The foster son that we got when he was 17 ate everything in sight for about 4 or 5 months until he realized we weren't going to ration his food or take it out of his hands... which his bios did.
I think you're right that you are going to have to phase in different foods a little at a time. If he's made a lifelong habit of eating nothing but junk, you won't break that habit in a week.
First thing I'd do, is start packing him his lunch for school, but maybe let him buy once a week or so. I've posted these words before, but both my kids say having a lunch ready to eat at lunchtime and not having to wait in line to get it, or having the bell ring before they're done eating, is much better than buying lunch anyday. Lunch packing ranks right up there with cleaning toilets in my book of favorite activities, but I do it because not only is it a way I can have a little influence in what they eat at school, but it is easier on the pocketbook, too.
Another thing to consider is buying those Crystal Lite packets that you put in a water bottle and shake up instead of soda. I started buying them for my DS to break him of the soda habit, but it's DH who drinks them like mad. They come in only a few flavors, raspberry and lemonade being the two I buy. DH likes the raspberry, but I like to mix a raspberry and a lemonade together in a big cup with ice -- pretty darn tasty! No calories or sugar either. They aren't cheap, unfortunately; Target as the best price for them I've found around here (SoCal).
As far as snacks go, I'm guilty of having lots of junky stuff around. DS like frozen mini-quiches, yogurt smoothies, and taquitos for snacks. He also likes that Easy Mac stuff, but DD hates it. Both eat Cheez-itz by the boxful and if I slice them and serve them in a bowl with a dollop of peanut butter, they'll eat apples. (I usually put some apple slices in their lunches, but they seem more like a treat if they're dunked in peanut butter.)
There are some pretty tasty protein bars out there that taste like candy bars and that do a good job of satisfying the desire for a snack and a sweet tooth at the same time -- I like the Balance Gold variety. Also, a bowl of a healthier cereal, like granola or something, is a great snack
Just some thoughts -- good luck!
Very litle experience with the male teenage species.... but I have a small amount of experience with the foster care system. From what I understand (and Rose pointed this out) non-stop eating is typical of a kid who is in the foster system. We went through the training but only had our dd (age 8 months at the time) who we ended up adopting. I do remember hearing about the bottomless pit appetities of foster kids - it must have something to do with security and feeling safe.
Make a visit to Sam's Club and stock up on pretzels, fruit and granola bars. Bless you for opening your home to him!
jt
The others have already given you some great ideas and so I only have a few things to add. My DS used to come home from school and devour anything he could lay his hands on. Usually it was something unhealthy. By the time dinner rolled around, he'd be full and wouldn't eat anything ahd later would snack on junk. From this experience I've learned to have a healthy meal ready for him the moment he arrives. I'm then satisfied that he will get, at least, one good healthy meal in him. Later if he's hungry he can either eat another meal or snack.
Another thing I've recently begun doing is asking for menu ideas from him before I go grocery shopping. He's been coming up with some new, creative ideas that we all enjoy.
By the way, welcome. I don't remember seeing you here before. I hope you'll join us on a frequent basis.
Mily
I haven't read any of the replies yet, so sorry if I'm repeating others advice!!
I have boys--12 and 15 that eat alot and love snacks too. I am guilty of buying them, so therefore, they eat them.
Try things like granola bars and cereal bars. They can be expensive, but if you shop at places that carry store brands, there are TONS of alternatives for those types of things. They have some health value. As far as pizza 'pops', I've never heard of those, but switch up the pizza a bit!! At 14, as long as he's not already heavy, boys can HANDLE the calories and fat--and if he's athletic at all he needs it.....but anyway, make your OWN pizza---use canadian bacon and mozzarella cheese! Throw on some sweet peppers or mushrooms or something that he can tolerate---that way he can get veggies and his pizza all at once! Same thing with eggs---you can put ALL SORTS of stuff in eggs that he would like---ham, cheese, etc, but throw in some frozen spinach, or something----cover it in cheese and salsa! Buy turkey sausage instead of the real deal, and let him have at it.
My kids eat cereal for EVERYTHING. keep a few popular, yet somewhat healty cereals on hand (cinnamon Life, Quaker oatmeal squares--sweet, but healthy to a point) and tell him if he can't bear fruit as a snack, try cereal. My boys went on a kick recently and ate TONS of yogurt and granola mixed together. As a matter of fact, that is what I bought for myself for breakfast this week. Yum.
make a bowl of fruit salad once a week or so---add canned fruit and bananas........again serve it alone or with granola.........just buy the canned fruit in light syrup, not heavy, sugary syrup.
Try frozen yougurt pops (like ice cream bars)
Oh, and I just was thinking, my 15 yr old LOVES smoothies---i buy frozen fruit--yogurt and that is all he uses.....he mixes his choice of fruit, and usually will add a banana---a splash of milk to thin it out, and the fruit acts as the 'ice' and makes it thick. He would eat those every day!!
I am a heavy person, and understand the desire to snack alot. I love it--I graze all day and don't sit down and eat huge meals..........and my choices aren't healthy, so I feel sort of hypocritical for giving my ideas, but they are ones I've tried w/ my own kids.
good luck!
shels
I too have a ds14 that eats like a horse (but then, don't they all?) I've briefly read the other replies, so hopefully I won't repeat.
Besides all the things the other posters mentioned, I keep sandwich stuff at the house all the time so when he comes in from school, he can make himself a sandwich (or two or three). I try to keep fruit available, but he will go thru stages where he won't eat it and it rots. ~~sigh~~ He likes to make apples boiled in cinnamon and sugar. I will sometimes have canned fruit, but he's not crazy about it. He does like the canned pineapple rings, tho. Or we have a fruit salad with either canned or fresh fruit mixed with Cool Whip. He can eat that by the gallon. He loves Ramen noodles. He will also occasionally request fish sticks. (~shudder~ ick! don't know how he eats those). He drinks diet sodas, Sunny D, those cranapple-type drinks, and milk.
I don't make his lunch, but he likes our cafeteria food pretty well. From what he tells me, he usually gets a tray rather than go to the snack bar for the "junk" food (french fries, chicken strips, etc). Occasionally, he'll get the snack bar food. He has come home for lunch occasionally. He will usually ask me to make extra "supper" so he can have it for lunch the next day.
Would he be interested at all in helping you cook? Ds14 *loves* cooking, and it seems that the more he cooks (or helps cook) the more he is willing to try new and different things. Heck, he comes up with more new stuff than I do, now! Ds18 never was interested in cooking, so it may have more to do with the child himself. But, you can always try.
I cook supper almost every night, so I know he's getting one *really* good meal in a day. He is so active in sports, that I don't worry too much about calories and fats and sugars (as long as he's getting the good stuff too). My main concern is just keeping him fed!
first - teenage boys eat TONS.
but - its been my personal experience that sugary stuff just makes you hungrier
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