Good nutrition is important for all of us.  However, sometime over the years we learned to feed our children “kid food.”  These foods have super fun packaging with cartoon characters and lots of sugar, salt, fat, artificial colors, and chemicals.  We were sold on the belief that our children need to eat “kid food”.  Restaurants supported this belief with “kiddie menus” that consistently only have a few foods like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and burgers with fries.  These meals never include salads or other vegetables.  Vegetables are apparently only for adults. 

 

Like most moms, I just want what is best for my kids. Although I’m not a scientist, I am positive that a bunch of chemicals is not the best way to feed my children…….especially my young athletes.  What I want for my children is for them to do their best.  They don’t have to win everything and to be honest……….they rarely do.  Oh, they are so going to be annoyed if they find out I said that.  However, doing your best and having a good time feels really good.  I want them to learn that hard work feels good.  Feeding my children a diet of real whole foods helps me to teach the lesson of hard work. 

I see a lot of sports parents who still don’t seem to get it though.  I know we all love our children and we do the best we can, but why are we missing the importance of nutrition?  Eating healthy……it’s not just for overweight kids.  Skinny and standard sized kids really benefit from proper nutrition as well.  Young athletes are still growing.  They need lots of nutrition to help them grow and develop.  Make sure you aren’t short-changing their nutrition for the sake of convenience because you have a busy schedule with all of their sports practices.    

Still not convinced??  Read on………….

Good nutrition is important for young athletes.

If your kids participate in sports good nutrition can help them to:

• perform well in games, matches, or events
• recover properly
• avoid dehydration (important no matter the outside temperature)
• get sick less often
• make the most of their training time

There you go…….a rundown of the importance of good nutrition for your young athletes.  Being a good sports parent is more than just making sure your athlete has the latest and greatest equipment.  It really is about making sure your athlete has the best nutrition you can provide.  Set your athlete up for success with healthy meals and then cheer them on from the stands with all of your might.  I love being a sports mom.  I would change the experience for anything. 

For more on sports nutrition for your young athlete, check out the youth sports section of this blog.  There you will find lots of great tips on making the most of your time in youth sports.