Teenagers and Lunch

Teenagers are a lot like toddlers! They don't like to be told what to do, they want to make decisions by themselves, and they are picky eaters. Choose your battles. Is it worth it to argue about what your teenager is going to eat for lunch? Aren't there more important issues that you need to deal with at this point in their life? They already feel like they have no control and aren't given the chance to make decisions for themselves. Let them at least pick what they are going to eat for lunch. That being said, there do need to be some guidelines set that they should be expected to follow.

First of all, buying school lunch or getting items from the vending machine everyday can become quite expensive. Set a weekly or monthly limit and let your teenager know that after they have spent the designated amount, they may either spend their own money to buy lunch or they can bring food from home which you will provide for them.

As far as the selection of food goes, you need to make sure that they are getting proper nutrition at least on a daily basis. Sit down and explain that they will be more productive in school if they eat a healthy and balanced diet. Of course we all know that they won't really care about that, but at least you have done your parental duty in telling them. Make some kind of food rules together such as they must eat one fruit or vegetable along with some kind of protein and anything else they want. You really aren't choosing their food for them; you are just putting limits on the amount of junk they eat. Let your teenager go to the grocery store with you and pick out some of the items that they like or have them make a list. Some healthy options might be whole pieces of fruit, raw veggies with dip, and for protein they may like cheese sticks, yogurt, and nuts. If you don't have foods that they like, they will use this against you!

Lastly, along with the privilege of choosing what to eat for lunch they are responsible to make their own lunch if they choose to bring from home. Feel free to help them if they ask, but they shouldn't expect that this is something you do for them everyday.

Now that your teenager has been given this right, don't nag them and constantly question them about what they are eating for lunch. If they are following the guidelines you have set and eating chocolate donuts or a bag of chips everyday then that is okay! After all, didn't you eat junk for lunch at that age?