TEENAGERS are eating their parents out of house and home as they drive up the family food bill to nearly £23,000 a year, a survey suggests.
Parents with 13 to 18-year-olds say they typically spend £189 on their weekly shop, research from supermarket Asda suggests.
And that is before two top-up shops of £64 a week and two deliveries at £42.
The average UK househould spends just £72 weekly on groceries, and £25 on takeaways and restaurants, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
Parents also dole out an average of £40 a week to their teens to spend on food, the Asda poll found.
Together, that adds up to £441 a week or £22,932 a year.
Nine in ten parents report their teenagers are always hungry – while four in ten often end up feeding their friends, too.
In the teenage years, physical growth and hormonal changes lead to an increase in appetite.
Metabolism also increases, meaning teens’ bodies literally burn through calories at a faster rate.
This is especially true if the child is active, with a “very active” 14 to 18-year-old boy requiring between 2,800 and 3,000 calories per day.
It means a multipack of crisps or granola bars lasts just four days, a carton of milk disappears in three days and a punnet of grapes in two.
But whilst teens are as ravenous as ever, the cost of feeding them has only increased.
According to the ASDA income tracker, 40 per cent of UK households saw a drop in spending power in 2025.
Parents feel the squeeze most keenly in the summer, as 29 per cent find that cupboards empty twice as fast over the six to eight-week break.
Mum of two boys Elizabeth Nichols, 40, from Bristol, told Asda: “It’s only the start of the summer holidays and the kids are eating me out of house and home.
“It feels like I’m constantly topping up the fridge and cupboards.
“Any parent of a teen will know, feeding them is like throwing food into a bottomless pit.”
Hardest-hit families now experience a £74 shortfall between income and basic costs.
An ASDA spokesperson added: “We know families are feeling the pressure — especially during the school holidays.
“That’s why we’re committed to helping parents stretch their budgets without compromising on quality.”
How to save money on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
This comes after the cheapest supermarket in the UK for 76 essential items was revealed.
The latest analysis from Which? had crowned Aldi the cheapest for the past 20 consecutive months but it has now been overtaken by its German rival Lidl.
The research compares the average price of a shop consisting of popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets.
In July, Lidl was crowned the cheapest supermarket, where the 76 groceries cost £128.40 on average across the month.
Members of its loyalty scheme Lidl Plus could save a further 40p.
Meanwhile, Aldi was 85p more expensive at £129.25 on average.
The list of 76 items included both branded and own-brand items, such as Birds Eye peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter.
The analysis includes special offer prices and loyalty prices where applicable, but not multibuys.