What Should I Feed My Athletic Kids?
If you are a soccer parent, you may wonder if young players have special nutritional needs. Or, are they just small grown-ups who can follow the same sports nutrition program as adults? This article addresses some of the nutrition questions parents ask about fuelling their active, growing children.
Q. Should I let my 14 year old son drink a protein shake for breakfast and again before bed? He wants to bulk up.
Growing children need to consume adequate protein: 0.5 to 1.0 gram of protein/pound of body weight or about 60 to 90 grams protein for a 14 year old who weighs 120 pounds. He can easily get this much in three glasses of milk (30 gm) plus the protein in a sandwich at lunch (20 gm) and an average plate of spaghetti with meat sauce (30 gm) at night. Most growing boys eat double portions and get double protein, especially if they drink milk.
While adequate protein is important to build muscles, eating extra protein via supplements will not build bigger muscles. Don’t waste your money! As your son matures, the hormones that kick-in at puberty (plus strength training) will create muscular bulk.
Q. Does my 9 year old daughter really need a sports drink after her soccer game?
As long as your daughter drinks adequate fluids, she does not need a sports drink after her soccer game. Cold water and juicy oranges are fine refreshers. Your job as a parent is to be sure your daughter has access to palatable fluids. For her, this might mean a sports drink. But other beverages and snacks can provide needed fluids and carbohydrates.
Young players who play and train intensely for more than 30 to 40 minutes might benefit from a sports drink after exercise. They are at higher risk for becoming dehydrated than adults who do the same workout. Children have a greater body surface area in respect to their body weight, so they gain heat faster from the environment than do adults. They also produce more body heat at a given running speed, and they sweat less than adults do. (Each sweat gland produces about 40% less sweat than an adult’s.) This means: Drink frequently during exercise to prevent dehydration!
Q. between my son’s matches and daughter’s soccer schedule, we rarely eat dinner at home. Any suggestions...?
Children often eat poorly because their parents have failed to plan for better choices. For example, let’s look at the rush to get to the event. With fluids, try to keep the refrigerator stocked with 16-ounce bottles of water, lemonade and juice. Grab them and go; you’ll reduce consumption of soda and sports drinks. With snacks, stash granola bars, pretzels, animal crackers and fig cookies in the car; you’ll reduce trips to the snack shack for candy and chips.
If you know you’ll be getting fast food for dinner, you can at least swing by a Taco Bell for example (bean burritos). Most fast food restaurants offer a healthful option, if you aren’t too hungry to choose it. Packing along a post-game recovery food that doubles as a pre-dinner appetite tamer (bagel, yogurt) can help reduce the temptation to fill up on fries, double bacon cheeseburgers, fried chicken, etc.
Q. My kids are junk food junkies. I try to get them to eat more broccoli and bananas, but I’m rarely successful...
Despite popular belief, kids (and their parents) do not have to eat a perfect diet to have a good diet. Most active children can meet their nutrient needs within 1,200 to 1,500 calories of a variety of wholesome foods. Hence, they do have space for some "junk", in moderation. Your children may actually have trouble getting adequate calories if you strictly limit treats.
One trick to reducing your children’s intake of not-so-good foods is to have available a healthful “second lunch” after school/before soccer. Enjoying a bean burrito, English muffin pizza, cereal with milk, fruit smoothie or a sandwich is preferable to the standard routine of munching on candy bars, cookies and chips. A healthful "second lunch" is particularly important for kids who eat poorly at school lunch.
Q. As my son is training harder, he’s getting very skinny. How can I tell if he’s eating enough to grow normally?
Your paediatrician can tell you if your son is growing normally by routine height and weight measurements plotted on a growth chart. Hard training will not stunt his growth–as long as he is eating adequately. If he seems overly fatigued and lethargic, he may be eating too little. Encourage more milk and juice (in place of water) as easy ways to boost calories.
Active children may need as many calories as their parents, if not more. For example, the average 6 year old needs 1,800 calories/day (40 cals/lb) plus more for soccer. The average 9 year old boy or girl (75 lbs) requires about 2,500 calories/day (32 calories/lb). Add on soccer and the number jumps by 300 to 600+ calories. (To estimate your child’s calorie needs, use the Nutrition Calculator at www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/etext/000035.html.)
Q. My 12 year old daughter wants to lose weight but she really doesn’t have excess body fat...
Dieting is standard among soccer players and athletes in sports that emphasize leanness. But the pressure to acquire the "perfect" body can bode trouble ahead if the dieter has issues about being "not good enough," a poor self-image and low self-esteem. All too often, diets are not just about weight. Dieting increases the risk for developing a full blown eating disorder.
As a parent, you need to downplay body size as an important currency of worth, and teach your daughter to love herself from the inside out. Never comment about the size of large children; your child will conclude she must be thin to be valued and loved, and she will start dieting. This is particularly important with young girls who are coping with body changes during their struggle to be the best at their sport. Their efforts to control weight may lead to a frustration, guilt, despair and failure, and an eating disorder.
