Calories for Teenage Boy

TechnoFreek

Just looking for some guidance calories for teenage boy. He's 15 years old, 5ft 11 and growing.

He's active, plays a lot of sport and other cardio type activities however he is a bit overweight purely down to a bad diet that he is starting to address.

I can help him with better food choices but given that he is still growing, wants to lose some of that belly fat but is otherwise very active, what daily calories should he be aiming for.

I presume a high carb diet is still important at his age?

Thanks

2xj3hplqgsbkym

In Ireland it is reccommended that an active teenage boy consumes around 2800 kilocalories per day.

However I would not encourage you to focus on counting calories as this is difficult to do and would probably turn him off eating healthy.

The focus should be more on eating a healthy diet rather than restricting calories. The main thing you should be trying to do is to cut out processed/ refined foods e.g. White bread, rolls, cakes, biscuits, sweets, breakfast cereals, cereal bars, crisps, fizzy drinks, take away etc..
Try to base his diet on fresh foods e.g fruit, veg, potatoes, lean meat. You might find the portion plate , attached of use when planning meals.

You should both agree on an allowed amount of cheat/treat food a day e.g. 1 chocolate bar and 1 biscuit or one take away a week etc..

Try to improve what he is eating already by making healthy changes instead if changing his diet completely. E.g spaghetti bolognaise- use whole grain spaghetti and home made sauce with added vegetables.

Zillah

TechnoFreek wrote: »

I presume a high carb diet is still important at his age?

The only people that should be on a high carb diet are endurance athletes. Lots of fat, protein, and fresh fruit/veg, with some slow release carbs is what you want. A small bit of pasta, rice, or potatoes etc is fine with dinner but there's no need for it to be a large portion. "High carb" is about the last thing anyone should be on.

Mellor

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Just looking for some guidance calories for teenage boy. He's 15 years old, 5ft 11 and growing.

He's active, plays a lot of sport and other cardio type activities however he is a bit overweight purely down to a bad diet that he is starting to address.

I can help him with better food choices but given that he is still growing, wants to lose some of that belly fat but is otherwise very active, what daily calories should he be aiming for.

I presume a high carb diet is still important at his age?

Thanks

The simply answer is that if he is a bit overweight, then he should be eating less then he currently is.
He needs carbs yes, but he also need protein and fat just as much as older people, perhaps more so.
No body can give you a usable calorie requirement without knowing his weight.

But honestly, eating 10-20% less will hit the right spot for drop the weight.

Ariah Fit Curl wrote: »

In Ireland it is reccommended that an active teenage boy consumes around 2800 kilocalories per day.

That's a completely useless recomendation.
A 13 year and and a 19 year old will have very different need.
Somebody who is 50kg will have different needs to somebody who is 80kg.

Try to improve what he is eating already by making healthy changes instead if changing his diet completely. E.g spaghetti bolognaise- use whole grain spaghetti and home made sauce with added vegetables.

Whole grain spaghetti and home made sauce will make no difference in terms of weight. Calorifically it's not significantly different to white spaghetti and a jar of tomato sauce.
I doubt that spag bol is the biggest issue with his diet, but even if it was, making the above switch would have no impact on weight.

generic2012

Zillah wrote: »

The only people that should be on a high carb diet are endurance athletes. Lots of fat, protein, and fresh fruit/veg, with some slow release carbs is what you want. A small bit of pasta, rice, or potatoes etc is fine with dinner but there's no need for it to be a large portion. "High carb" is about the last thing anyone should be on.

What about people with heart disease or people who have been advised by a doctor to stay away from high fat diets? What is so different about 'endurance athletes' that they are the only ones who should go on high carb diets? I also do a lot of running but how many kilometres should I be doing a week before I go high carb?

Orla K

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Just looking for some guidance calories for teenage boy. He's 15 years old, 5ft 11 and growing.

He's active, plays a lot of sport and other cardio type activities however he is a bit overweight purely down to a bad diet that he is starting to address.

I can help him with better food choices but given that he is still growing, wants to lose some of that belly fat but is otherwise very active, what daily calories should he be aiming for.

I presume a high carb diet is still important at his age?

Thanks

Before this turns into an argument over carbs I thought I'd post.

Don't bother counting calories or macros he's an active 15 year old with a bad diet, just help him with wanting to make better choices (and I don't mean low fat or low carb) just eat real food no junk and the calories will sort themselves out. And, if he finds he's lacking a bit of energy when/after sports then add some more starchy carbs.

The hard part is overriding habits and choosing real food over junk.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Quote: TechnoFreek
Just looking for some guidance calories for teenage boy. He's 15 years old, 5ft 11 and growing.

He's active, plays a lot of sport and other cardio type activities however he is a bit overweight purely down to a bad diet that he is starting to address.

I can help him with better food choices but given that he is still growing, wants to lose some of that belly fat but is otherwise very active, what daily calories should he be aiming for.

I presume a high carb diet is still important at his age?

Thanks

The simply answer is that if he is a bit overweight, then he should be eating less then he currently is.
He needs carbs yes, but he also need protein and fat just as much as older people, perhaps more so.
No body can give you a usable calorie requirement without knowing his weight.

But honestly, eating 10-20% less will hit the right spot for drop the weight.

Quote: Ariah Fit Curl
In Ireland it is reccommended that an active teenage boy consumes around 2800 kilocalories per day.

That's a completely useless recomendation.
A 13 year and and a 19 year old will have very different need.
Somebody who is 50kg will have different needs to somebody who is 80kg.

Quote:

Try to improve what he is eating already by making healthy changes instead if changing his diet completely. E.g spaghetti bolognaise- use whole grain spaghetti and home made sauce with added vegetables.

Whole grain spaghetti and home made sauce will make no difference in terms of weight. Calorifically it's not significantly different to white spaghetti and a jar of tomato sauce.
I doubt that spag bol is the biggest issue with his diet, but even if it was, making the above switch would have no impact on weight.


Yes as I already said , they should be focusing on healthy eating and cutting out highly processed foods. So my suggestion is how to make an unhealthy meal healthier. Also adding vegetables and whole grain pasta will make him fuller for longer which means he should tend to eat less or snack less afterwards. I don't see the problem with this example?

Zillah

generic2012 wrote: »

What about people with heart disease or people who have been advised by a doctor to stay away from high fat diets?

Those doctors are using out of date information, it's actually quite aggravating that we've known for years now that our notions about dietary fat and heart disease are wrong but the inertia of our beliefs carries on.

What is so different about 'endurance athletes' that they are the only ones who should go on high carb diets?

They're burning huge amounts of calories so carbs make an excellent energy source, without that a high carb diet results in unstable energy levels, blood sugar spikes, insulin resistance, and propensity for body fat.

I also do a lot of running but how many kilometres should I be doing a week before I go high carb?

I don't know why you're acting snarky and offended over a comment on carbs.

ford2600

For OP he's young and activitie, cut junk from his diet and educate yourself on what he needs in terms of nutrients.

Have a look on
dominicmunnenly.com and sigmanutrition.com for good info on diet.

Get diet right in terms of food type quality and with his activity he should be good.

@Hanley on here has some good threads started on how to guesstimate required food amounts with youtube links etc.

Most endurance athletes eat high carb(probably not enough protein with a lot of them or enough essential fats) but HC isn't essential for endurance activity;certainly the very long distance stuff and even up to 3hrs on mtb or 3hrs higher intensity.

I recently did a 400km ride and consumed less than 2000 cals for entire day(no breakfast) less than half of which was carbs. I guy out of 23 was finished before me so it's not a disadvantage on long rides.

Mellor

Ariah Fit Curl wrote: »

Yes as I already said , they should be focusing on healthy eating and cutting out highly processed foods. So my suggestion is how to make an unhealthy meal healthier. Also adding vegetables and whole grain pasta will make him fuller for longer which means he should tend to eat less or snack less afterwards. I don't see the problem with this example?

I outlined the problems with that idea above. It's pretty straight forward.
Wholegrains pasta is not drastically difference than white pasta. It's got a little more fibre, maybe 2.5g more per 50g. That's nothing. Calories are maybe 10 less per 50g. Also nothing.
Slightly fewer carbs, but overall it's still mostly wheat based carbs.
It's slightly healthier. But if white pasta is bad for you, then so is whole wheat as the difference is tiny.

I really don't think that white pasta is the issue with his diet. Changing to wholewheat, even if it's marginally healthier, will have no impact on his weight, as the calories are the same.
"Fuller for longer", is overstated. Most people who are "over snacking" are doing so out of habit.

Change a couple of dinners a week to wholegrain and whatever the issue is with his diet will remain. He won't lose weight.

Alf Veedersane

Food quality and portion sizes are key.

One or both are typically the problem.

He doesn't need to count calories at 15. You just need to address the food quality - cut out the heavily processed stuff and junk.

See how that goes and look at reining in the portion sizes.
We have a tendancy to eat with our eyes (If it looks like a smaller portion than we're used to seeing on the plate, then it must be too small, right?)