Sports Nutrition for the Teen Athlete: finding the best approach
Children should never be put on a diet. Currently, I am not aware of a diet plan for children that is safe, effective, and sustainable nor do I perceive any “diet” like this evolving anytime soon. If it is hard for a fully grown, educated, mature adult to follow a “diet” plan how do we expect innocent immature youth to?
It is common for me to hear friends and clients trace their struggle of food from something a parent, family member or coach said to them in their youth. Putting a child on weight watchers, sending a child to a personal trainer for the purpose of weight loss, and coaches telling athletes they need to lose weight, eat less, or look more like other “skinnier” athletes on the team are all things I have heard or witnessed. These examples, unfortunately happen more often than you would like to think. So what is the best approach for Sport Nutrition in youth athletes if they can’t or shouldn’t be put on a diet or hinder their relationship and confidence with food?
BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION
It is not a coincidence that Fit Plate Nutrition is a Sports AND Family Nutrition Counseling Service. How do you expect a teen athlete to cultivate healthy
living behaviors if his or her family is not doing the same? Athlete’s usually need a more detail oriented nutrition plan when it comes to nutrition, in order to achieve optimal performance. However, their foundation is the first area of importance. If a house is built on quick sand, no matter how strong and beautiful the house is, with a weak foundation, it will not stand. And so, we first need to analyze each athletes foundation of nutrition before building upon it, and most often than not, this is found within the family and household.
Building a s strong foundation includes covering the basics, educating the athlete and family on ways to enhance their healthy lifestyle in a realistic and affordable way. Discussing sleep, meal and snack make up, routine, increasing fruit and vegetables to decrease inflammation, and eating at home vs out etc.
- How many hours does the athlete sleep
- How many meals are eaten at home verse fast food / at a restaurant
- Popular snacks and how often
- Does the athlete eat breakfast, does he/she skip meals?
- Daily Athlete’s Beverage makeup (juice, soda, water, energy drinks?)
- Who does the cooking, does the athlete know how to cook anything,how to prepare any food for him/herself?
- Does nutrition change depending on: game day, training day, rest day, in season, out of season, multiple game day etc?
Fueling before, during and after a training or competition is essential to optimal performance, however even if fueling around the athletic occasion in perfect it will only do so much unless the athlete has a good foundation.
FOOD IS FUEL
In a perfect world we would treat our bodies like the most expensive car you can think of, putting only the best fuel and accessories into it. My Sports Nutrition approach for youth athletes is to speak of food and nutrition as fuel for athletes. Playing collegiate and professional soccer, I did not have the best relationship with food and unfortunately, saw many teammates struggle with some sort of disordered eating behavior. Studies show females are more sensitive to food insecurity but we cannot leave out the males on this as well. Using FUEL as a key word helps athletes better understand the effects on food on their body and performance. Fueling is not only for an athlete’s trainings, competitions and success in school but for health and growth as well.
Athletes need to be able to answer and know "did I fuel myself properly for my game, for my training?" and have the confidence in making the correct food choices
Athletes need improvement on the connecting how they feel with what he or she did or did not eat/drink that day
Athletes need to be able to prepare food for themselves, even if that is oatmeal, scrambled eggs, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or yogurt parfait.
USE ROLE MODELS TO BUILD THE IMPORTANCE OF FUELAnother dynamic to sport nutrition in teens is having athletes actually believe in the importance of sports nutrition. Working with the family to integrate healthy behaviors is essential however the athlete will get the most reward if and when he or she believes that proper fueling with improve their game. Just as Nike, Gatorade, Under Armor spend millions of dollars on professional athlete endorsements to get youth to buy their products we can use this same tactic in sports nutrition. It is rare to find a professional athlete who is not working with a nutritionist or dietitian, whether it be on their own dime or the team's. Just as professional teams and top college athletic departments invest in coaches, strength & conditioning coordinators, trainers, physical therapists, and sports psychologists, Dietitians are also now very much in the mix. These teams and coaches know that they game can be won and lost due to nutrition or lack of fueling. If a young athlete knows his/her favorite, role model athletes are fueling themselves properly and taking nutrition seriously, he/she will be more likely to buy-in to healthy eating for better performance.
SIMPLIFYING & MAKING IT REALISTICI do not expect teenage athletes to give up fast food, eating out, snacking, enjoying pizza, burgers, and ice cream. If you tell any person he/she cannot have something, in turn he/she will only want that thing more. This ESPECIALLY goes for teenagers (as all parents nod their heads in unison ha). All food has its place in life. My job is to help athletes choose BETTER options for fuel at fast food/sit down restaurants, when they are starving and only have the vending machine or gas station available or when the right time would be to splurge on a food (aka not before a game/training). Simplifying and making proper fueling realistic in a teenagers world is essential if 1) we want them to buy-in to eating healthy and 2) optimize performance, recovery and decrease risk of injury. Youth athletes should not need to count calories, weigh their food, think what they are eating will make them fat, try to go low carb, high protein, not eat after 7pm, restrict calories etc. Rather they need to be informed, gain a strong nutrition foundation, recognize better food fueling alternatives, know what to eat around the athletic occasion and to continue to connect their performance and how they feel with what food and beverages they put or do not put into their bodies. My approach to sports nutrition in youth continues to evolve but the end goal will always be not only improved performance but moreover, a healthier life.