What do you do with hungry teenagers? Teenage boys seem to have hollow legs and can never be filled up.

Ask him what his four main food groups are and I bet he will say they are burgers, fries, soft drinks and chocolate bars. The influence of the media doesn’t help with advertisers tempting these hungry teenagers with a huge array of unhealthy, high fat foods.

Don’t think that they won’t take these unhealthy habits with them into their adulthood, because they likely will. It is hard to break the habit when you develop a taste for salty, fatty or sugary foods. This type of food can also affect their skin which in puberty can be a real concern. I am confident if you cut out greasy food and sugary drinks such as colas their skin will show a quick improvement.

We are now seeing teenagers developing Type 2 diabetes which was unheard of until now. This is caused by an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise. Providing your hungry teenagers with healthy options may not be the cheapest way to go but at the cost to their health long term it is certainly worth it. If like many of us you need to keep to a food budget and provide for these hungry teenagers, then these tips may help.

Tips for feeding your hungry teenagers:

• Buy food in bulk.
• Look for specials and stock up when they are cheap.
• Stretch out mince dishes by adding grated carrots, zucchini and slices of bread.
• Use recipes and foods that are high in fibre. Include as many vegetables or salad stuffs as you can to their meals as this will help fill them up.
• Buy high fibre cereals so that once again you are filling them up. Sugary cereals won’t last very long and those hungry teenagers will be searching for food by mid-morning.
• Buy fruits (and veggies, and anything else) that are in season as they are normally cheaper to buy.
• Home cooking is definitely a great way to save money. Make the time to do a cooking day where you can prepare ahead and have frozen meals at your finger tips for when the hungry teenagers come home starving.
• Keeping children hydrated is a good way to stop the hunger pangs. Have filtered water available. A much better choice compared to high sugar (and costly) drinks.

Annette’s cookbooks SYMPLY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE 1-7 are sold in all good newsagencies. Visit Annette’s website www.symplytoogood.com.au for more tips and recipes. You can also join Annette’s page at Symply Too Good FACEBOOK.