Why is my son always hungry? How to know when it’s good or bad.

Diet’s a tricky thing for all ages. But for a parent there’s so much to worry about. With a rise in mental health and eating disorders, it’s no surprise that we have so many questions. So the other day I asked myself: why is my son always hungry?

Your son is always hungry because his body demands food to sustain the rapid growth of childhood. Too many highly processed carbohydrate foods sap his energy and spike hunger. So it’s important to feed him a healthy natural diet to avoid excess hunger that doesn’t help him develop.

Why is my son always hungry?

I understand the pain of trying to feed the bottomless pit of a hungry child. 30 minutes after you feel like you’ve given them a hearty meal, you hear that whine of, “I’m hungry.” I always get a twinge of anxiety. Was the meal I gave him not good enough? Is he ill? Is he eating because he’s not happy? So I did some research to ease my mind and found the reasons why it seems that my son is always hungry.

1. He’s growing! (Good)

We need to remember that during childhood, there’s so much going on in our childrens’ bodies. Until their late teens or early adulthood they’re constantly changing. Bones, muscles, ligaments, organs and everything else are growing at a rapid rate. To simplify things we’ll look at their bone and brain development.

Read here for 10 things that your son needs to implement now

Bone development

When young, bones are mainly made up of cartilage. This is the soft flexible material that adults still have in their ears and nose. As they grow, cartilage matures into actual bone. At the end of their long bones are disc shaped pieces of cartilage called growth plates. These convert cartilage into bone, making the bones longer. By early adulthood these growth plates calcify and close, stopping the bones from growing any longer(1).

So think about your normal resting energy needs and then imagine that you’re trying to constantly create new bones on top of that. Clearly, this is going to require adequate nutrition to be able to take place effectively. Even when your son is at rest, this is happening and their body is working hard and needs fuel.

Brain development

Your son achieved so much in his first few years. He learns to walk, talk, recognise things visually, auditorily and by touch. Then as he gets older and goes to school he needs to learn how to interact with others and navigate social minefields. All the way up to adulthood, but especially up until his teens, his brain is a sponge for knowledge. A million new neural connections are made every second in his first few years of life(2). All of this requires energy.

Nutrition for brain development starts during pregnancy. It;s important that the mother eats sufficient folic acid(3). Folic acid is a B vitamin that our body uses to make new cells. During pregnancy, it’s used to form the baby’s neural tube and can prevent brain and spine defects. The recommended intake of folic acid for pregnant women is 400 mcg per day. Any major brain defects can start very early in pregnancy (3-4 weeks). This is often before women know they are pregnant. So if trying for a baby it’s wise to ensure your folic acid meets this threshold before you conceive(4).

Read here to learn about how eating meat is the secret to brain development.

During childhood the rapidly growing brain is sensitive to nutrient deficiencies. Because it’s working so hard, the brain has a massive demand for energy. Therefore it is essential that your son gets enough high calorie and nutrient dense foods. Make sure you feed him plenty of protein, iron, zinc and choline(5). Foods high in the omega-3 fat DHA are very important as DHA makes up the majority of the fat in his brain. These nutrients are abundant in good quality animal foods like grass-fed red meat, eggs and natural yoghurt.

Read here to learn more about DHA

2. He’s active. (Good)

Your son’s energy demands are already high due to the growing we discussed above. But these can be increased further depending on his activity levels. A boy that spends more of his time playing outside or doing sports will need more food than one that only watches TV and plays game consoles. Obviously, I think that boys should be outside running around and climbing trees as much as possible. But realistically, there are many reasons as to why that might not happen. We can’t always help what they do at school and, if the parents work long hours or shifts, their son might not get out as much as we like.

Will weightlifting stunt your son’s growth? Read here for the answer

The more exercise he does, the more energy he will need to eat. Exercise increases demands by boosting metabolism, increasing heart and breathing rate, and to power more muscle contractions(6). Remember, all of this extra energy demand is on top of the already high demand required simply to exist and to grow. So if your son is active, it’s important to fuel him with extra protein to repair his muscles and good-quality fats and carbohydrates so he can perform and recover optimally.

Read here to learn how to optimise your son with red meat

3. He’s eating the wrong foods. (Bad)

This is when things start to get more complicated. Certain foods do the opposite of what you want and actually drive a hunger response, making your son (and you) want to eat more. The foods that he usually ends up craving are the same unhealthy ones that kicked off the cravings in the first place.

Highly processed carbohydrates like crisps, crackers and bread are unfortunately common children’s snacks. This includes any sort of grain-based snack that claims to be healthy. Carrot puffs and cereal bars come to mind.

This sudden increase in blood sugar causes the body to try and stabilise levels by releasing a dump of insulin. Insulin is the storage hormone that will force the sugar out of the blood and into cells. This sudden drop in blood sugar then scares your body into wanting more energy to replace it, and causes us to crave sugary food. This storm of peaks and troughs continues all day if you let it and is the reason that a breakfast of cereal and toast will have us reaching for a bag of crisps or a biscuit by mid-morning.

Breakfast cereals are a terrible start to the day. Read here for better alternatives

This process is the same for sugary sweets and cookies, low-fat alternatives (yoghurts etc) and fizzy drinks. Even zero-calorie and sugar-free drinks have a negative effect. When the artificial sweeteners hit your son’s tongue, his brain gets excited about the sugar that it thinks is coming. When none reaches your gut, it panics and tells him to eat sugary foods to make up for the disappointment(7).

To ensure that your son’s hunger is genuine and necessary, feed him a diet as low in artificial processed foods as possible. He’ll never be completely deprived of treats- mine definitely isn’t. But basing his diet around natural whole foods that don’t contain a list of ingredients is key:

High-quality meats and animal products are the best way to maintain a stable blood sugar.
Choose whole fruits and vegetables over tinned or processed.
Be careful with the kind of carbohydrates you feed him. Though adults can easily go without them, I’m not for completely depriving children of carbohydrates. Just choose individual products like white rice (better than brown[8]) and potatoes over ones that have been ground up and mashed together like pastas and breads. As much as possible, steer clear of making crisps and biscuits a staple. They are not part of a ‘balanced’ diet.

Read here to learn about 5 of the unhealthiest things you can feed your son

4. He’s comfort eating. (Bad)

We all want our children to have a good relationship with food. There’s so much going on nowadays with eating disorders and obesity that this is one of our main food-related worries. University College London (UCL) conducted a study in 2018 and expressed that eating as a response to negative emotions could be a risk factor for obesity. Under-eating when unhappy can also be a risk factor for eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. This emotional eating (both over- and under-) is mainly influenced by environmental factors more than genes(9).

The best thing to do is look out for changes in eating habits. We try to keep our childrens’ lives as stress free as possible but there will always be something, especially as they approach their teens. If you notice, in response to stress or any changes, that they gravitate towards or away from food more than normal, then it could be an early sign of a bad relationship with food.

Read here to learn about the link between obesity and mental health

Summary

Growing is hard. Your son needs the fuel to make the most of it.

High calorie, nutrient-dense, single-ingredient foods are what your son’s bones, tissues and brain needs.

Feed him a diet rich in protein, animal fats (especially DHA) iron, zinc and choline.

To know that your son’s hunger is necessary for his needs, keep away from processed carbohydrates, sugary treats and fizzy drinks.

Identify if his eating habits change due to stressful situations to understand whether his relationship with food is a cause for concern.

Raise Your Legacy

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