My family had a fun weekend celebrating our little athlete’s accomplishments at their football and cheer awards celebrations. The children worked very hard during the season and we were proud to see how each of them improved during the season. On to the next season………my 8 year old daughter and her 6 year old brother are now taking gymnastics. I don’t plan on either of them going to the Olympics, but they are having a ball learning the basics and getting a little bit of exercise on Saturday mornings.
As my children continue to be active with sports, I have been thinking more and more about how important nutrition is to their performance. We had a flag football coach last year who thought it was a good idea to “sugar up the boys” with donuts before the start of their game. My husband who was an assistant coach noticed that by half-time the kids were all crashing from the sugar they had eaten. Clearly, this was not the way to get optimal performance out of these boys.
Hydration is key. It is easy to remember to drink lots of water when it is 90 degrees out, but hydration is just as important when it is cooler out. The sports drinks are not necessary. They are often full of sugar and artificial colors. My pediatrician Dr. Arthur Lavin published an article entitled, Why Your Children Should Drink Only Water. Dr. Lavin states, “One of the key engines of this (obesity) epidemic is what our kids drink. About 10-15% of all the calories that children in the United States take into their body during their childhood comes from juice and soda, a rise of 30% in the last ten years.” Water is all they need. Purchase fun reusable water bottles and keep them filled. Good for their bodies and the environment.
Before the game. An hour to thirty minutes before the game or practice, give your little athlete a carbohydrate serving. A small portion of whole wheat pasta, yogurt, or an apple are all great choices. Just pick your child’s favorite fruit, vegetable, or whole grain. They are all great sources of carbohydrates. This will give your child the fuel they need to make it through the big game. Your child doesn’t have to be a professional athlete to eat like one.
After the game. You’ll want to give you little athlete a snack or meal with carbohydrates and protein. The protein will help to rebuild those muscles they have worked and the carbs will replace the lost glucose. We like a turkey sandwich made with a whole wheat tortilla. We also love monkey bites which are made with peanut butter and whole wheat tortillas.
A note on portion control. Some sports burn more calories than others. I know my little guy gets bored sometimes with baseball because he is just standing in the field. Good example of not burning too many calories. He loves football because at his age he plays both offense and defense so he is running around the whole game. Good example of burning a lot of calories. Make sure you feed your child an appropriate portion for their level of activity.
What are your favorite before and after sports foods? Have you noticed how good nutrition or lack of fuel affects your little athlete’s performance? Have you ever had a coach with their own ideas of what your child should be eating? If so, what did you do? Did you agree with the ideas?
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I really appreciate you writing about this! MAny families today don't pay attention to nutrition and the children suffer. I've seen way too many babies drinking Gatorade and toddlers sipping sodas these days!
You are so right Bonnie! I am alway amazed at how young children are who are drinking sodas and sports drinks. We went to an early morning sports banquet yesterday. Our banquet time was 10AM and they ran these for the different ages all day. They made the decision to feed the kids pizza and pop regardless of the time. I looked at my husband and said I better not see pop on this table. 10AM for 6 year olds. Are you kidding me!? Thankfully, they also had bottled water. The majority of the kids there chose the pop. My son felt like he was the odd man out.
This is a great post! I have three kids who are athletes and the one who takes it the most seriously also takes her nutrition the most seriously. We do eat pretty healthy to begin with but they are all teenagers so I know that what they eat elsewhere may not be as healthy. But none of them will eat fast food anymore. 🙂
That's fantastic that they have discovered the link between nutrition and performance. Great job Michelle! No fast food is amazing for teenagers! It is one thing to feed them healthy foods when they are home, but it is another thing when they are able to avoid fast food with their friends. Amazing!
Too bad I don't have any little ones in sports just yet. My little 19 month old only drinks water believe it or not apart from breastmilk, so we're starting him extremely early with not getting used to drinking any juices. We feel it is better to just eat the fruit instead of drinking juice. These are great tips. I only hope that you will still be blogging when my little guy is old enough for me to try all of these awesome tips! Thank you for supporting me on my firsrt week with Countdown in Style. Don't forget to come back Friday to see if you are featured! xoxo
You are doing a great job setting healthy habits from the start, Brittnei. It will be so much easier for you when your child is just used to eating healthy. You are right that fruit is so much better than fruit juice. We all need our fiber. LOL!
Thank you for highlighting that sugary foods and drinks are unnecessary! We preach this to all of the athletes we see in our office regardless of age. I'm especially a big advocate of water-only with kids (and in my day-to-day routine, as well). It's amazing what ailments are often healed just from drinking enough water!
Thanks for reinforcing that I'm on the right track here. It is so important to start kids out with good habits…….and never too late to start new healthy habits. You are so right that water heals much. The first thing I do after eating not-so-healthy foods is drink lots of water, It always makes me feel better.
Great topic! I'm often surprised (though I shouldn't be anymore) by the sugary junk food and drinks my nephew is served during sports camps and games. I really wish the coaches would address nutrition for our young athletes.
I agree with you completely. It seems to me that some coaches really think that feeding kids junk food won't have any impact on their health and performance. Drives me nuts, really! I know even a small lesson from coaches about good nutrition would speak volumes to the young athletes.
This is very informative for me, I have three very active boy, and they all LOVE to play Football. I will keep this in mind for when next they want to play. Thanks a lot for sharing this, have a super blessed day!
Love
Thanks for stopping by Ugochi! We need to keep those boys active and good food is the best way to do that.
Orange slices, although a bit messy are great boost of carbohydrates and sugar, with fiber! That was our go-to especially during football season!
Thanks for sharing and linking up with Countdown in Style! Don't forget to come back on Friday to see if you were featured!
~~April~~
100lbCountdown.com
Orange slices are the best April! Great advice. Tasty and loaded with lots of nutrition.