Eating the same meal daily

[minvaz]

Hi! My 18 yr old eats the same meal daily for the past 8 months! He has no problem eating whatever you serve him (keyword: serve), but left on his own he will not prepare an easy meal. He will rather starve! He has severe Executive Functioning weaknesses and I'm wondering is this playing a role? Raised in a household where dad is an expert cook and vegetables are on the menu daily, I can't understand why he gravitates towards junk food (excessive amounts of sugar in soda, candy, etc) and no, we never buy the stuff. He has a job and sneaks in junk food. I am working on getting him a nutritionist and also tested for lack of nutrients, cellular testing. Is anyone experiencing the same thing?

[Rosie232]

It's pretty normal for young people to prefer junk food. All you can do is continue to serve healthy food as often as your schedule allows. I ate nothing but junk from age 18- 25. Eventually I wanted to prioritize my health and my baby's when I got pregnant.

Continue to set a good example and have easy healthy snacks available.

[AberdeenArms]

Hi Minvaz,

My 17yo has been eating similarly for months. He was on a CRAZY McDonalds kick for about six months until one of his friends actually said he stopped eating McDonalds, so my son did too. He's on to Taco Bell now, but he gets a chicken quesadilla without their fatty sauces on it, so at least it's an upgrade from McDonalds. At home we buy him a lot of single-serve pizzas and healthy-ish chicken nuggets he can make for himself, which he does whenever he can't get his hands on Taco Bell. And yes, when he is served a meal he will eat it. On the plus side, the kid can grill a steak like a champion and has shown interest in making other foods. He "created" a turkey sandwich with potato chips on it. It's actually not bad! So there are definitely some executive function issues going on but as Rosie said, the junk food is definitely part of being a teenager.

Keep trying to promote healthier foods and encourage your kid to help you & your husband in the kitchen. Have your kid pick a meal, even take the kid to the grocery store with you. Working together to prep a meal is a good way to bond and the kid may learn something he can do along the way.

[Momtrying]

I agree with what’s been said. Of course he wants junkier food. It’s easy and tastes good. Sometimes I wonder how I survived my college years with what I ate but there is actually nutrients in a lot of food that you wouldn’t consider “nutritious”. And it might actually help if there is some fun junk food available in the house then he won’t feel the need to sneak things or over eat it when it does become available. Just an idea