Some school-age athletes face pressures involving nutrition and body weight. In some sports, it's common for kids to feel they need to increase or reduce their weight to reach peak performance. In sports that emphasize weight or appearance, such as wrestling , swimming, dance, or gymnastics, kids may feel pressure to lose weight.

Because athletic kids need extra fuel, it's usually not a good idea for them to diet. Unhealthy eating habits, like crash dieting, can leave kids with less strength and endurance and poor concentration.

When kids try to increase their weight too fast for sports where size matters, such as football or hockey , their performance may also suffer.

When a person overeats, the food the body can't use right away gets stored as fat. As a result, kids who overeat may gain weight, not muscle. If a coach, gym teacher, or teammate says that your child needs to lose or gain weight, or if you're concerned about your child's eating habits, talk to your doctor.

The doctor can work with you or refer you to a dietitian to develop a healthy eating plan for your young athlete. Kids need to eat well on game days. The meal itself should not be very different from what they've eaten throughout training. Athletes can choose healthy foods they believe enhance their performance and don't cause any problems like stomach upset.

Athletes need to eat the right amount and mix of foods to support their higher level of activity. But that mix might not be too different from a normal healthy diet.

Eating for sports should be another part of healthy eating for life. KidsHealth Parents Feeding Your Child Athlete. en español: Cómo alimentar a su joven deportista. Medically reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD. Listen Play Stop Volume mp3 Settings Close Player.

Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. Nutritional Needs of Young Athletes Active, athletic kids and teens need: Vitamins and minerals: Kids need a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Calcium and iron are two important minerals for athletes: Calcium helps build strong bones to resist breaking and stress fractures. Calcium-rich foods include low-fat dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese, as well as leafy green vegetables such as broccoli.

Iron helps carry oxygen to all the different body parts that need it. Iron-rich foods include lean meat, chicken, tuna, salmon, eggs, dried fruits, leafy green vegetables, and fortified whole grains. Protein: Protein helps build and repair muscles, and most kids get plenty of it through a balanced diet.

Protein-rich foods include fish, lean meat and poultry, dairy products, beans, nuts, and soy products. Carbohydrates: Carbs provide energy for the body and are an important source of fuel for a young athlete. A common method to determine how much fluid to drink is to weigh yourself before and after training.

Every pound 0. You can restore electrolytes by drinking sports drinks and eating foods high in sodium and potassium. Because many sports drinks lack adequate electrolytes, some people choose to make their own.

In addition, many companies make electrolyte tablets that can be combined with water to provide the necessary electrolytes to keep you hydrated.

There are endless snack choices that can top off your energy stores without leaving you feeling too full or sluggish. The ideal snack is balanced, providing a good ratio of macronutrients, but easy to prepare.

When snacking before a workout, focus on lower fat options , as they tend to digest more quickly and are likely to leave you feeling less full. After exercise, a snack that provides a good dose of protein and carbs is especially important for replenishing glycogen stores and supporting muscle protein synthesis.

They help provide an appropriate balance of energy, nutrients, and other bioactive compounds in food that are not often found in supplement form.

That said, considering that athletes often have greater nutritional needs than the general population, supplementation can be used to fill in any gaps in the diet.

Protein powders are isolated forms of various proteins, such as whey, egg white, pea, brown rice, and soy. Protein powders typically contain 10—25 g of protein per scoop, making it easy and convenient to consume a solid dose of protein.

Research suggests that consuming a protein supplement around training can help promote recovery and aid in increases in lean body mass. For example, some people choose to add protein powder to their oats to boost their protein content a bit.

Carb supplements may help sustain your energy levels, particularly if you engage in endurance sports lasting longer than 1 hour. These concentrated forms of carbs usually provide about 25 g of simple carbs per serving, and some include add-ins such as caffeine or vitamins.

They come in gel or powder form. Many long-distance endurance athletes will aim to consume 1 carb energy gel containing 25 g of carbs every 30—45 minutes during an exercise session longer than 1 hour. Sports drinks also often contain enough carbs to maintain energy levels, but some athletes prefer gels to prevent excessive fluid intake during training or events, as this may result in digestive distress.

Many athletes choose to take a high quality multivitamin that contains all the basic vitamins and minerals to make up for any potential gaps in their diet.

This is likely a good idea for most people, as the potential benefits of supplementing with a multivitamin outweigh the risks. One vitamin in particular that athletes often supplement is vitamin D, especially during winter in areas with less sun exposure.

Low vitamin D levels have been shown to potentially affect sports performance, so supplementing is often recommended.

Research shows that caffeine can improve strength and endurance in a wide range of sporting activities , such as running, jumping, throwing, and weightlifting. Many athletes choose to drink a strong cup of coffee before training to get a boost, while others turn to supplements that contain synthetic forms of caffeine, such as pre-workouts.

Whichever form you decide to use, be sure to start out with a small amount. You can gradually increase your dose as long as your body tolerates it.

Supplementing with omega-3 fats such as fish oil may improve sports performance and recovery from intense exercise. You can certainly get omega-3s from your diet by eating foods such as fatty fish, flax and chia seeds, nuts, and soybeans.

Plant-based omega-3 supplements are also available for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. Creatine is a compound your body produces from amino acids.

It aids in energy production during short, high intensity activities. Supplementing daily with 5 g of creatine monohydrate — the most common form — has been shown to improve power and strength output during resistance training, which can carry over to sports performance. Most sporting federations do not classify creatine as a banned substance, as its effects are modest compared with those of other compounds.

Considering their low cost and wide availability and the extensive research behind them, creatine supplements may be worthwhile for some athletes. Beta-alanine is another amino acid-based compound found in animal products such as beef and chicken. In your body, beta-alanine serves as a building block for carnosine, a compound responsible for helping to reduce the acidic environment within working muscles during high intensity exercise.

The most notable benefit of supplementing with beta-alanine is improvement in performance in high intensity exercises lasting 1—10 minutes. The commonly recommended research -based dosages range from 3. Some people prefer to stick to the lower end of the range to avoid a potential side effect called paraesthesia , a tingling sensation in the extremities.

Sports nutritionists are responsible for implementing science-based nutrition protocols for athletes and staying on top of the latest research.

At the highest level, sports nutrition programs are traditionally overseen and administered by registered dietitians specializing in this area.

These professionals serve to educate athletes on all aspects of nutrition related to sports performance, including taking in the right amount of food, nutrients, hydration, and supplementation when needed.

Lastly, sports nutritionists often work with athletes to address food allergies , intolerances , nutrition-related medical concerns, and — in collaboration with psychotherapists — any eating disorders or disordered eating that athletes may be experiencing.

One of the roles of sports nutritionists is to help debunk these myths and provide athletes with accurate information. Here are three of the top sports nutrition myths — and what the facts really say. While protein intake is an important factor in gaining muscle, simply supplementing with protein will not cause any significant muscle gains.

To promote notable changes in muscle size, you need to regularly perform resistance training for an extended period of time while making sure your diet is on point.

Even then, depending on a number of factors, including genetics, sex, and body size, you will likely not look bulky. Another common myth in sports nutrition is that eating close to bedtime will cause additional fat gain.

Many metabolic processes take place during sleep. For example, eating two slices of pizza before bed is much more likely to result in fat gain than eating a cup of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt.

Coffee gets a bad rap for being dehydrating. While sports nutrition is quite individualized, some general areas are important for most athletes. Choosing the right foods, zeroing in your macros, optimizing meal timing, ensuring good hydration, and selecting appropriate snacks can help you perform at your best.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. When it comes to eating foods to fuel your exercise performance, it's not as simple as choosing vegetables over doughnuts.

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