How Do I Get My Teen to Eat More?

Teenagers are old enough to be responsible to make the best decisions for their health, right? If you are a parent, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It is difficult to be a parent for a responsible teenager, who isn’t responsible in all aspects of their life. Getting a teenager to eat healthy food more often can be stressful, overwhelming, and not always worth the fight.

As a teen gets older and goes through puberty and growth spurts, eating enough and getting a balance of nutrients is essential for their bodies. However, many teenagers tend to skip meals and snack on unhealthy packaged foods for most of their food. As a parent you can’t force them to eat (unfortunately), but here are ideas for supporting them:

Keep healthy food accessible

Prepare meals
Offer a variety of foods
Include teen in meal planning

Help pack lunches and snacks when your teen has a busy schedule

Read on for the best tips to get your teenager to eat more in order to support their growing, developing, learning, busy body.

What to Do When Your Teen Doesn’t Eat Enough

As a concerned parent, it is good to be actively interested in helping your teen eat well. Good nutrition and adequate calorie intake is especially important during teenage years because of the rapid growth that occurs with puberty. However, many teens may not eat enough or may choose to eat foods that are of poor nutritional quality.

There are several different factors that can contribute to poor eating habits in teens, but increased independence and peer influence is probably the most influential. Teenagers are very aware of their appearance and social behaviors and just want to fit in with their peers.

So teens will alter the amount they eat or what they eat in order to fit in with their friends. You as the parent can do your part to either combat or augment peer influence in order to promote healthy eating habits. Here are a few things to try:

Teach the importance of good nutrition and, more importantly, be a good example of someone who has a healthy relationship with food. Shun the “dieting” mentality and instead focus on living an overall healthy lifestyle.

Have family meal times. Try to eat both breakfast and dinner with your teenager as many days of the week as you can. If that is not possible, aim to eat at least one meal together each day. Involve your teen, take time to prepare nutritious, delicious and filling meals together. Eating together as a family ensures that your teen has the opportunity to eat a nutritious meal at least once or twice a day.
Consider packing a lunch and/or healthy snacks for your teen to take to school each day so that they always have good options to eat while on the go.
Help your teen develop a positive body image. Compliment your teen often on their positive qualities and do not dwell on the negative.

Is It Normal For a Teenager Not to Eat?

“Normal” varies widely from person to person, but it is certainly not uncommon for a teenager to eat less than you think they should. Factors such as peer influence, self-image, and time constraints may cause teens to eat less than they need in order to grow and develop normally.

As mentioned above, teens are heavily influenced by their peer group. It is common for teens to change what they eat or how much they eat based on what their friends do.

You may not have a lot of control over what they choose to eat (or not eat) when they are away from home, but you can do your part to provide nourishing meals at home and teach/model good nutrition habits.

What Causes Lack of Appetite in Teenagers?

There are many reasons why a teenager may have a lack of appetite. These include, but are not limited to; illness such as the common cold, depression, eating disorders (such as anorexia nervosa), stress, or underlying health conditions such as irritable bowl syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease or diabetes. If your teenager has a persistent lack of appetite for more than 4-5 days, it is best to discuss it with a medical professional.

When To Be Concerned if Your Teen Doesn’t Eat

As part of their development, adolescents are forming their body image, so they tend to be very conscious of their physical appearance. A poor self-image can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, in which food intake is dramatically decreased to an unhealthy level in order to lose weight.

Research on eating disorders is tricky, but it is estimated that about 10-20% of teenagers have engaged in disordered eating behaviors at some point. Dieting among teens is even more common – some data suggest that 61% of female and 32% of male adolescents dieted within the last month (Judith E. Brown – Nutrition through the Lifecycle).

Do your best to help your teen develop a positive body image. Compliment them often and never body-shame or compare their body type in a negative light to someone else’s.

Busy schedules may also prevent some teens from eating enough. School, work, extracurricular activities or family responsibilities can cause teens to skip meals to save on time. If this is the case with your teen, try packing easy on-the-go snacks for him/her to eat.

Signs of Eating Disorders in Teens and What To Do

Are you concerned that your teenager might have, or be developing, disordered eating habits? Here are some signs of what to watch for. If you are at all concerned, you should check in with a health professional. Don’t criticize or lecture your child, only love and support will help in the long run.

Signs of Eating Disorders Include:

Distorted body image
Extreme dissatisfaction with body shape or size
Profound fear of gaining weight or becoming fat

Unexplained weight change or fluctuations greater than 10 lbs
Obsession with food and calories
Very low calorie intake; avoidance of fatty foods

Poor appetite; frequent bloating
Difficulty eating in front of others
Chronic dieting despite not being overweight

Binge-eating episodes
Self-induced vomiting, laxative use or diuretic use
Fasting or frequent meal skipping to lose weight

Erratic meal pattern with wide variations in calorie intake
Participating in physical activity with weight or size requirements
Overtraining or compulsive attitude about physical activity

Depression
Constant thoughts about weight or food
Pressure from peers to be a certain shape or size

History of physical or sexual abuse or other traumatizing life event
Secondary amenorrhea or irregular periods for females
Fainting episodes or frequent light-headedness

Constipation or diarrhea unexplained by other causes
BMI <5th percentile
Varying heart rate, decreased blood pressure after arising suddenly

Hypothermia; cold intolerance
Loss of muscle mass
Tooth enamel demineralization

(Brown, Judith E. Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. 5th Edition, Boston, MA, Cengage Learning, 2014.)

If you think that your teenager has an eating disorder, visit nationaleatingdisorders.org where you can either call, text or chat online with someone that can give you further guidance and resources.

How to Encourage a Teenager to Eat Healthier

As the parent, you are the food gatekeeper in your home, meaning that you are in charge of what kinds of foods are allowed in your home. This is encouraging — it means that you have the power to influence what your children eat! Teenagers (and adults too, for that matter) tend to eat what is visible and convenient.

You can capitalize on this by putting a variety of healthy, easy to eat, pre-prepared snacks in visible locations throughout the kitchen. For example, place a bowl of fruit or nuts on the kitchen counter for easy snacking. Put cut-up fruits and veggies in clear containers in the fridge.

You can also try putting sugary treats and high-fat chips on the top shelf of the pantry or cabinet where they aren’t as visible, and put healthier snacks on an easy-to-reach shelf.

Taking the time to make healthy, nutritious meals and eating together as a family is also important. Avoid making any specially prepared foods at the last minute for teens that do not like what is offered for dinner.

Instead, when you are planning what meals to make for the week, ask your teen for suggestions on what they want to eat. Have your teen help you cook the meal as well. The more involved they are, the more likely they are to eat what is offered.

Teenagers are most likely to eat healthily when they are hearing the same message from multiple sources. If your influence is not enough to get your teen to eat well, consider the following ideas:

Have your doctor encourage your adolescent to eat healthy foods.

If your teen is not enrolled in a health class in school, consider finding a community nutrition class either online or in person to attend together.
Make a “healthy eating plan” and goals together as an entire family – you could even include extended family members, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.
Use peer influence to your advantage. If you are friends with the parents of your teens’ friends, consider discussing healthy eating with them – you may be able to find ways to help support each other!

What to Feed a Picky Teenager

If your teenager is a picky eater, you don’t want to cater to their requests for every meal, or make a special meal just for them. They can’t live off a diet of poptarts, pizza, and chips alone.

Do your best to support healthy eating habits for teenagers- the best thing you can do is not to make a big deal about it (don’t tell them they are a “picky eater”) and be a good example of a healthy relationship with food.

Here are some tips for dealing with a picky teen:

Involve your teen as much as possible in meal planning, shopping, and preparation. They are a lot more likely to eat foods they help choose and cook.

Keep your teen’s favorite healthy foods on hand and easily accessible.
Don’t force or pressure your teen to eat, just say “you don’t have to eat it“. Try not to let them prepare a different meal for themselves, just make sure there are some side dishes with each meal that they do enjoy.
Enjoy mealtimes together, don’t focus on what or how much they are eating. Don’t make a big deal about your teenager’s size, weight, or eating habits. They are more likely to push back when you pressure them.

Serve foods buffet style so your teen can dish food for themselves and choose their own toppings, side dishes, and amounts.
Seek professional help if anxiety or stress causes extreme picky eating

Best Foods to Serve a Picky Teenager:

Recreate some of their favorite restaurant meals at home. It’s a lot healthier (and cheaper) when you cook at home.

Serve food separately with toppings and sauce on the side so your teenager can decide what they want to eat.
Pasta with a choice of sauce, meat, toppings, and veggies.
Homemade pizza with a few toppings your teen enjoys.

Smoothies with a choice of fruits, veggies, seeds
Salads with all toppings served on the side
Power bowls with a choice of toppings (quinoa or brown rice, spinach or romaine, diced veggies, beans, seeds, nuts, sweet potato, chicken or turkey or fish, hummus, sauce, etc.)

How to Help a Teenager Gain Weight

Are you one of those parents who just can’t seem to keep your teenager’s fed? Some teenagers have quick metabolisms, lots of energy, and crazy growth spurts and can often be thin and underweight.

Other teens are picky eaters or have health concerns that affect weight and size. If your child’s healthcare provider has mentioned the benefit of some weight gain, here are some easy tips that might encourage a few pounds of weight gain for your teen:

Healthy Ways to Gain Weight

Eat a little more than normal-plan for 300-500 extra calories per day

Be patient, weight gain takes time. 1 pound per month is reasonable
Choose energy-dense foods most often (high-calorie, high-fat)
Eat at least 3 meals a day, and add snacks between meals (about 2-3 per day)

Exercise to build muscle
Always eat until you are full
Help in the kitchen- cooking encourages eating

Eat with others
Make meals interesting- try new things
Keep a supply of snacks with you at all times- trail mix, granola bars, crackers, nuts, etc.

Control stress and relax
Drink calories- choose 100% juice, chocolate milk, smoothies, milk shakes, etc.
Eat cut up fruits and veggies with dips

Cook vegetables in oil
Use avocados, olives, and oil-dressings on salads, sandwiches, and wraps
Add butter and sour cream to potatoes

Use creamy sauces with pasta and vegetables

Summary

It doesn’t have to be a battle to get your teenager to eat more. Start with keeping their favorite foods on hand and encourage them to help you with meal planning and preparation as much as possible. Do your best, don’t stress, and seek help from a doctor or dietitian if you are concerned.

References

Brown, Judith E. Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. 5th Edition, Boston, MA, Cengage Learning, 2014.

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