Young Athletes Nutrition Tips

Bridget Snapp: Sucrose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid. We know kids love sports drinks, but are they healthy for them? We're going to find out today, right here on Clubhouse GAS. I'm here again with Diane King, Certified Athletic Trainer at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Registered Dietician and Specialist in Sports Dietetics. Today, we're talking about young athletes and healthy eating. Welcome and thanks for being here with us again Diane. Diane King: Thank you. Bridget Snapp: We appreciate it. So what are some of the basic things that parents need to keep in mind when teaching their kids about healthy eating? Diane King: Well, I think the most important thing is variety. We talk about the number of foods and the number of different type of nutrients that are needed everyday to make energy and it's really about 40 different nutrients, which means you definitely have to have all six food groups being taken in on a daily bases in order for that child to feel good and play well. Bridget Snapp: Okay. Can we look at kids as young adults if their mom wants to be in the Atkins diet? Can she put this child on the same diet and move on? Diane King: Great question. I mean it's really a dangerous thing to do that. Children are not small adults, and even when you have a highly developed young athlete, you can't treat them the same way that you would an adult, because they are still growing and developing. You'll never get enough energy in a child following a high protein, low carbohydrate plan. So parents need to be aware of this. So even if they're following a different type of food plan format, they still need to feed their child in a healthful way. Bridget Snapp: What are the nuts and bolts of that? Diane King: Well, I think we have to look at the base of our eating plan, which is carbohydrate foods, fruits, vegetables, milk and yogurt as well as all our starchy foods like breads, cereals, rice, and pastas. That's the foundation that we want to have at all meals in most of our snacks. Bridget Snapp: So it's restricting certain foods, practical or even necessary? Diane King: I think it's probably dangerous, if anything. A lot of times people may restrict milk and dairy either, because of food intolerance or maybe the parent doesn't like milk, but the child still needs it. Not only because of the calcium that's in it and the vitamin the, but there is protein, there is carbohydrate in there and one thing that we know from a eating standpoint is chocolate milk is probably one of our best recovery foods and something that we often encourage our young athletes to have as a part of their snacking protocol, especially right after practices. Bridget Snapp: The small snacks, we've had hit on this before, but let's emphasize out once again. This is important for the kids. Diane King: Right. Snacks really are meant to fill you up, but what they do is they tide you over. So what we tell parents and their children is if the meals are more than four hours apart, so between breakfast and lunch. If breakfast is at 7:30 and lunch may not be till 1 o'clock, you definitely need to have a snack in there. A lot of times we'll say peanut butter and apple slices, maybe some cheese and crackers. It doesn't have to be big, but what we're doing is we're keeping the fuel stores up at a par level. Bridget Snapp: Do you recommend going with three meals a day and supplementing with these snacks, if you have more than four hours between? Diane King: Absolutely. Bridget Snapp: Okay. So, it's not small meals every couple of hours, it's do get your three big meals in? Diane King: Well, there are times when we've got to have young kids eating every two hours and it really just depends on what there calorie needs are. At the very least, we want three meals and two snacks. It's easy enough to just put small things in there, it doesn't have to be extravagant. You can have small baggies full of trail mix or things like that. You can have the peanut butter and crackers that you bring from home or buy in the vending machine. You're not limited to these super healthy foods when we're talking about snacks, because these kids need calories. Bridget Snapp: Now let's take the situation, we are at the ballpark, you've pretty much got your fast food there, your pizza, your popcorn. How do you deal with that? Is that okay in small amounts? Do you want to bring your snacks with you? Is it going to hurt the kid to have sneakers every once in while? Diane King: Right. I think you have to kind of look at it from what does my child need. Certainly, there are plenty of opportunities to eat and find something to eat at the ballpark. Hot dogs may not at all always be a favorite's choice, but is it really going to hurt the child? I would say no. But the popcorn choices, a lot of times, they have pretzel sticks or things like that, they have juice and fruit juice and sports drinks. A lot of the concession stands are starting to carry yogurts and things like that as well and even fresh fruit. Bridget Snapp: And the fast food places are doing that too these days. Diane King: Very definitely. I mean they're definitely catering and changing to the consumers needs. So having that available, that's great. Should that mean that you don't ever give your child French fries? Absolutely not. I think, you have to be realistic and allow for that in moderation. Bridget Snapp: You mention sports drinks a minute ago. I know a lot of parents who are concerned, because there is lot of sugar in a lot of these drinks. What is your take on the sports drinks? Diane King: Well, I think the thing that you have to remember is there is a purpose for that type of drink and that type of beverage. A lot of times parents, question me about high fructose corn syrup and is that a problem? My response is that; that is a sweetening agent that makes that drink palatable. Now should you be drinking Gatorade for breakfast? No, but either right before activity, certainly during the activity, if they're doing over and hours worth of practice and definitely right after, are the appropriate times to have drinks like that. Bridget Snapp: Okay. So there is a place for Gatorade. Diane King: Definitely. Bridget Snapp: Don't do it all the time. Diane King: Don't do it all the time. Bridget Snapp: Are there any food groups, anything that you say absolutely stay away from? Diane King: The really high fat food choices. A lot of times you'll hear about empty calories and those are the foods like a Krispy Kreme doughnut, like a SONIC burger, those choices aren't best for the athlete from the stand point of energy production. From the standpoint of total food enjoyment, it's not a bad thing to have and you could probably have in once a month or something like that. Enjoy the taste of the food, enjoy being a kid, but don't plug that in place of your healthy food choices. Bridget Snapp: Well, this sounds like practical advice and we certainly thank you once again for helping keep our kids healthy. Diane King: You're welcome. Bridget Snapp: And we thank you for watching this edition of Clubhouse GAS. We'll see you next time.