12 year old eating alll day

[Anonymous]

my 12 year old is eating breakfast at home and then will eat the school lunch and he will be very hungry when he comes home. He always complain about meal is never enough, I asked him if he wanted to pack for school and he said no, they barely have time to eat lunch. Every child at that middle school eats free, I believe its because they have a lot of free and reduce lunch rate. After dinner he is always hungry and will eat a snack or two. Is this normal behavior for a teen boy? He been eating a lot for a few months, and he still skinny. 5'3 and 124 pound

[Anonymous]

NORMAL

[Anonymous]

Very normal

[Anonymous]

Are you sure he’s skinny? I would think 85 lb would be skinny, not 124.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure he’s skinny? I would think 85 lb would be skinny, not 124.

Depends on what stage the boy is in puberty. 85 lbs would be scrawny, prepubescent. Some 12 year olds are ahead in terms of puberty and are building muscle and are losing those toothpick arms and legs. He’s probably gaining weight because he’s ready to shoot up in height. He’s piling in the calories because his body needs them for a growth spurt.

[Anonymous]

This is an example of how we all perceive thin, regular weight, and overweight differently. A 5'3" 12-year-old boy who is 125 lbs is not thin in my book.
As an example my shorter at 12 years old son, weight almost half of what OPs child weighs.

[Anonymous]

That doesn’t sound like all day, that sounds like 4 meals a day. My 12yo DD does this.
Large breakfast. Lunch at school, dinner around 4 because of sports, then hearty snack around 7-8pm.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]This is an example of how we all perceive thin, regular weight, and overweight differently. A 5'3" 12-year-old boy who is 125 lbs is not thin in my book.
As an example my shorter at 12 years old son, weight almost half of what OPs child weighs.[/quote]

Depends on how muscular the kid is. If he’s muscular he can also be thin.

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old daughter eats a ton. Probably four “meals” each day. I would not worry about this.

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old son eats probably even more than this. Big breakfast, snacks in classes that allow it, lunch (packed from home), and usually two “dinners,” plus dessert most nights, but he’s a swimmer and burns a ton of calories and usually eats both before and after practice. He’s almost 5’3 and 90 pounds, skinny but strong. He looks and sounds very much prepubescent.

[Anonymous]

This doesn’t seem like much. Many teens eat a full second dinner. Plus snacks throughout day. Have him pack lunch. It will actually give him more time to eat because he won’t have to wait in line. School lunch is not only terrible quality and he may not be taking much food- depending what is offered and what he likes. Packing will allow him more food, better food, and more time to eat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an example of how we all perceive thin, regular weight, and overweight differently. A 5'3" 12-year-old boy who is 125 lbs is not thin in my book.
As an example my shorter at 12 years old son, weight almost half of what OPs child weighs.

I’m not sure saying you have a 60 lb 12 yr olds adds anything here. That isnt anywhere near average either

[Anonymous]

I assumed a 12 year and 6 month boy at 5' 3" and weighing 124 pounds.

Your results
The information you provided gives a BMI of 22.

This puts your child in the 88th percentile, which means your child is overweight. An ideal BMI for your child's gender and age is between 15.2 and 21.4.

Your child is not skinny. In fact, your child is classified as overweight. That is not necessarily a problem and BMI is not perfect, but it is a data point for you to consider. I would be sure to focus on healthy, whole foods and increase activity. Hopefully he will even out as he goes through puberty, but right now is the time to teach healthy habits and food as fuel.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is an example of how we all perceive thin, regular weight, and overweight differently. A 5'3" 12-year-old boy who is 125 lbs is not thin in my book.
As an example my shorter at 12 years old son, weight almost half of what OPs child weighs.[/quote]

Depends on how muscular the kid is. If he’s muscular he can also be thin. [/quote]
+1 numbers mean nothing, bodies are composed so differently

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is an example of how we all perceive thin, regular weight, and overweight differently. A 5'3" 12-year-old boy who is 125 lbs is not thin in my book.
As an example my shorter at 12 years old son, weight almost half of what OPs child weighs.[/quote]

Depends on how muscular the kid is. If he’s muscular he can also be thin. [/quote]
My DS was muscular but wiry; he played tennis 4 hours per day, five days a week until 18 and then in college. Plus, tournaments on the weekends. It all depends on how we perceive slim, heavy, etc. Granted, my DS was a FTT and we were at Georgetown couple of times per month. He finally grew and gained weight. I would have loved for him to be heavier at that age.