would my teenage son benefit from protein shakes?

casey

Hi, I have a thirteen year old son who in my opinion eats well and plays competitive sport. The problem we have is that he is quite a lot smaller than his friends and it is starting to effect his confidence.
He has asked whether he can have protein shakes to encourage his growth spurt but I am not sure.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Many Thanks,
Casey

donnac2558

Your son is still young, he will suddenly spurt up when his hormones kick in.

I doubt any protein shakes will do that.

summerspring

Was his dad also small for his age at 13? It might be better to go by that. I guess protein shakes won't do any harm but I doubt if they will encourage a growth spurt. I think it's down to hormones.

jenniewb

Protein shakes wont boost growth, they just help give you some of the nutrients so if your trying to develop your muscle, they are fuelled correctly so they can develop, though many people rely on steroids to build their muscles and sadly this is what you quite often can see happening in certain sectors of the "fitness" world and its quite often assumed it's all done via foods and drink supplements rather than drugs.


If your son is especially small, you could try your GP but to be honest your best not messing with mother nature, it tends to have a way of backfiring if you do! Most GPs wont do anything until they either feel the child has come to the end of their growing (over 18yrs old) or are very much smaller than is healthy.

mrs_sparrow

You say smaller as in shorter? Or smaller as in not as big in the body?

Your son play competitive sport so he will have a high metabolism - my son is half the weight of his peers because of this. Look at what he is eating, make sure he has a lot of protein rich foods, my son's doctor has suggested lots of high calorie foods such as milkshakes.

However, if he is just short it is just the way he is and he might catch up later, he might not. It sounds a bit naff but work on him learning to accept himself for how he is as, if he is short there is no amount of shakes that will build him up.

Protein shuts off the muscle after exercise allowing the body to burn fat and not muscle, thereby burning fat and building definition. A lot of people do not realise how protein works and do not take the shakes in the right way. They have a really high calorie content, on top of what people put in them, a lot of people are then surprised that they are not 'losing weight'.

pmduk

Just remind him good things come in small packages!

InsideInsurance

Why bother with protein shakes rather than just eating more lean protein?

Personally think things should be corrected by eating properly rather than trying to supplement with processed foods and additives

wondercollie

My youngest tried this. His skin suffered. He was itchy constantly and broke out in a rash that scabbed over. Honestly, he looked like he was tweeking from drugs. He didn't gain any bulk or height.


He's built like Johnny Depp. Some men just aren't meant to be big. Genetics are to blame.


Tell him to save his cash

casey

Thankyou everyone for your responses.
I have made the decision that I am not going to let him have these shakes.
In response to some individual posts both myself and his father are above average height so maybe he is just a slow developer.He is not of slight build he has always been quite solid ,not overweight though.
He does eat a good diet already I just thought that the protein shakes may give him a boost.
Hopefully his spurt is not too far away !!!
Once again many thanks.

YORKSHIRELASS

My son has a health condition that has delayed his growth and has recently had some appointments with a specialist. If it helps at all we were told that most boys have a big growth spurt about half way through puberty. At 13 some boys wont even have started puberty and others will be well on the way through it. I can really sympathise but I guess its just a question of waiting for nature to take its course.

Its a funny age anyway and being smaller than everyone else is tough. I think you are right not to let him have the shakes though, apart from anything else he is going to be disappointed if nothing happens.

welshbookworm

My son at 12 was less than 5 foot tall and was upset as his brother (2 years younger) was nearly 6 inches taller than him!
By the time he was 15 he had grown a lot! And now is a 6 foot 3 inch 25 year old !
His brother is 6 foot 6!
Different children grow at different rates