Not me.
My 16-year-old son is very thin and wants to bulk up.
What kinds of foods should he eat that will help him gain weight and build muscle but still be healthy foods?
I don't want him eating a bunch of junk food.
I was the exact same way at his age. When I graduated high school, I was 6'0" and weighed 135 lbs.
Boy, did I hate being that thin. Got made fun of all the time. Hated my body, felt weak, yadda yadda yadda.
All the advice about getting on a weight-training program is true. He definitely needs to be on one if he wants to bulk up. I tried to do with just with food and it never worked. Weight training and modifying his diet is the only way.
He can join the Y or some place like that. They usually give a free day or week of personal training for new members to get them off on the right foot.
Also, as he's working out, he needs to up both his complex carb and protein intakes. Trust me...and this is personal experience speaking here...it is VERY tough, seemingly impossible, to get your protein/carb/caloric intake to the appropriate levels just from normal foods, especially when you're on a school schedule.
The answer, as has been said in this thread, is protein shakes and a
good multi-vitamin.
If he goes that route, this is what I recommend he get:
CytoGainer
After a few months and he starts to "bulk up" (and, it won't all be muscle), he should switch to
100% Whey Protein (maybe two shakes a day) between well-balanced meals and then maybe one
Muscle Milk shake at night about 30 minutes before bed. That'll allow him to keep growing muscle but it'll keep him from piling on a bunch of fat.
How much protein he takes in depends on how much he weighs. If he's extremely underweight like I was, then he should make sure to consume about 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. So, if he weighs 100 pounds, he should be consuming at LEAST 100 grams of protein a day, but probably closer to 150.
Hope this helps.