The benefits of good hydration are plenty. Not only does drinking water keep your organs functioning properly , but it also helps to regulate your body temperature and deliver nutrients to your cells— all things that are essential to your young athlete. To maintain optimal hydration throughout the day, general recommendations suggest young athletes should drink ½ to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight.

In instances where your child may become dehydrated, sports drinks and diluted juice are great options for rehydration.

Make sure your child is limiting their intake of these beverages as they are often high in sugar. Protein is another important nutrient that young athletes must be eating enough of. Every cell in the human body contains protein— not to mention it helps to grow and repair cells, as well as aids in growth and development for children and teens.

In most cases, young athletes will receive an adequate amount of protein through their food consumption and should not have to ingest anything supplemental, like protein shakes. Fats are an important part of a balanced diet. Healthy fats help in the normal growth, development, and maintenance of body tissues.

However, when dealing with young athletes, it is essential to place an emphasis on choosing fat sources wisely. The best fat sources for young athletes include nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and salmon.

Individual nutrient needs vary by sport, type, and intensity of the activity, age, body size, goals and training volume. Generally speaking, the more intense the activity and the more hours you train, the higher your carbohydrate and overall calorie needs will be.

Meeting with a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics CSSD for a personalized consultation is the best way for young athletes to determine their specific, appropriate amount of calories and nutrients to eat each day.

Depending on their goals, training status and type of activity, athletes need anywhere from ½ to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. A sports dietitian is the best resource to help you determine the right amount of protein that your star athlete needs.

As a general rule, young athletes can meet their daily protein needs by making sure to include a source of lean protein such as eggs, milk, yogurt, nuts, nut butter, beans, lentils, tofu, chicken or fish at each meal and snack.

Eating a healthy diet ensures that an athlete is getting all the nutrients their body needs to produce energy and create new muscle tissue, enzymes and other cellular structures involved in energy metabolism.

Proper nutrition can also help repair damage from training as well as everyday wear and tear, and keeps the body's muscles, bones, joints, tendons and organs functioning optimally. Young athletes should be eating five or six balanced meals and snacks each day, and should be eating every three hours.

Each meal should include a balance of complex carbs, lean protein, healthy fat, fruits and vegetables. Each snack should include a combination of all three macronutrients: complex carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats.

If your athlete has any food allergies or intolerances, work with a registered dietitian to make sure they are appropriately filling any "gaps" in their diet created by eliminating foods or food groups.

See more ideas for healthy snacks and lunches to fuel a young athlete's performance. Parents can encourage healthy eating behaviors in children by first modeling those desired behaviors.

Children mimic the behaviors of the adults in their lives. Therefore, if you want your child to eat healthy, work to set a good example. Athletes can increase their stores of glycogen by regularly eating high-carbohydrate foods. If dietary protein intake is insufficient, this can result in a loss of protein muscle tissue, because the body will start to break down muscle tissue to meet its energy needs, and may increase the risk of infections and illness.

Current recommendations for carbohydrate requirements vary depending on the duration, frequency and intensity of exercise. More refined carbohydrate foods such as white bread, jams and lollies are useful to boost the total intake of carbohydrate, particularly for very active people.

Athletes are advised to adjust the amount of carbohydrate they consume for fuelling and recovery to suit their exercise level. For example:. A more recent strategy adopted by some athletes is to train with low body carbohydrate levels and intakes train low. There is accumulating evidence that carefully planned periods of training with low carbohydrate availability may enhance some of the adaptations in muscle to the training program.

However, currently the benefits of this approach to athletic performance are unclear. The GI has become of increasing interest to athletes in the area of sports nutrition.

However, the particular timing of ingestion of carbohydrate foods with different GIs around exercise might be important. There is a suggestion that low GI foods may be useful before exercise to provide a more sustained energy release, although evidence is not convincing in terms of any resulting performance benefit.

Moderate to high GI foods and fluids may be the most beneficial during exercise and in the early recovery period. However, it is important to remember the type and timing of food eaten should be tailored to personal preferences and to maximise the performance of the particular sport in which the person is involved.

A high-carbohydrate meal 3 to 4 hours before exercise is thought to have a positive effect on performance. A small snack one to 2 hours before exercise may also benefit performance. It is important to ensure good hydration prior to an event.

Consuming approximately ml of fluid in the 2 to 4 hours prior to an event may be a good general strategy to take. Some people may experience a negative response to eating close to exercise.

A meal high in fat, protein or fibre is likely to increase the risk of digestive discomfort. It is recommended that meals just before exercise should be high in carbohydrates as they do not cause gastrointestinal upset. Liquid meal supplements may also be appropriate, particularly for athletes who suffer from pre-event nerves.

For athletes involved in events lasting less than 60 minutes in duration, a mouth rinse with a carbohydrate beverage may be sufficient to help improve performance.

Benefits of this strategy appear to relate to effects on the brain and central nervous system. During exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, an intake of carbohydrate is required to top up blood glucose levels and delay fatigue.

Current recommendations suggest 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate is sufficient, and can be in the form of lollies, sports gels, sports drinks, low-fat muesli and sports bars or sandwiches with white bread. It is important to start your intake early in exercise and to consume regular amounts throughout the exercise period.

It is also important to consume regular fluid during prolonged exercise to avoid dehydration. Sports drinks, diluted fruit juice and water are suitable choices.

For people exercising for more than 4 hours, up to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour is recommended. Carbohydrate foods and fluids should be consumed after exercise, particularly in the first one to 2 hours after exercise.

While consuming sufficient total carbohydrate post-exercise is important, the type of carbohydrate source might also be important, particularly if a second training session or event will occur less than 8 hours later. In these situations, athletes should choose carbohydrate sources with a high GI for example white bread, white rice, white potatoes in the first half hour or so after exercise.

This should be continued until the normal meal pattern resumes. Since most athletes develop a fluid deficit during exercise, replenishment of fluids post-exercise is also a very important consideration for optimal recovery. It is recommended that athletes consume 1.

If a coach, gym teacher, or teammate says that your child needs to lose or gain weight, or if you're concerned about your child's eating habits, talk to your doctor.

The doctor can work with you or refer you to a dietitian to develop a healthy eating plan for your young athlete. Kids need to eat well on game days. The meal itself should not be very different from what they've eaten throughout training. Athletes can choose healthy foods they believe enhance their performance and don't cause any problems like stomach upset.

Athletes need to eat the right amount and mix of foods to support their higher level of activity. But that mix might not be too different from a normal healthy diet. Eating for sports should be another part of healthy eating for life. KidsHealth Parents Feeding Your Child Athlete.

en español: Cómo alimentar a su joven deportista. Medically reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD. Listen Play Stop Volume mp3 Settings Close Player. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. Nutritional Needs of Young Athletes Active, athletic kids and teens need: Vitamins and minerals: Kids need a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Calcium and iron are two important minerals for athletes: Calcium helps build strong bones to resist breaking and stress fractures.

Calcium-rich foods include low-fat dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese, as well as leafy green vegetables such as broccoli. Iron helps carry oxygen to all the different body parts that need it. Iron-rich foods include lean meat, chicken, tuna, salmon, eggs, dried fruits, leafy green vegetables, and fortified whole grains.

Protein: Protein helps build and repair muscles, and most kids get plenty of it through a balanced diet. Sports nutrition for kids is tricky. And many young athletes need more calories than their less active counterparts. To clear up some of the confusion for parents of young athletes, here are 6 sports nutrition rules to get you started.

A varied and healthy diet is extremely important for a growing athlete. burgers, fries, cookies and candy. Growing children need several key nutrients, like calcium for bone health, Vitamin C for immune system development, iron for growth, and protein for muscle growth and repair.

These nutrients are only found in healthy foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and proteins. Child athletes put their bodies through more wear and tear than less active children, so they need to be even more diligent about eating healthy foods for growth and development.

Children get hotter faster than adults because they have a greater body surface area for their body weight, which means they take in heat from the environment faster than adults. They should drink very frequently during exercise and cold water is the perfect refresher.

A good rule of thumb is that children need about 4 ounces or ½ cup of water for every 20 minutes of play. Make sure you teach your children about the importance of hydration, or they might just forget to drink all together!

Fresh fruit is also high in water and contribute to hydration—orange slice breaks during practice should be encouraged! If you provide them, they will drink them. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy in your body and fuel your workouts. Additionally, carbohydrate intake also is necessary for proper growth and development in your child.

Some great carbohydrate options include fruit, potatoes, milk, beans, bread, pasta, and yogurt. The benefits of good hydration are plenty.

Not only does drinking water keep your organs functioning properly , but it also helps to regulate your body temperature and deliver nutrients to your cells— all things that are essential to your young athlete.

To maintain optimal hydration throughout the day, general recommendations suggest young athletes should drink ½ to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight. In instances where your child may become dehydrated, sports drinks and diluted juice are great options for rehydration.

Make sure your child is limiting their intake of these beverages as they are often high in sugar. Protein is another important nutrient that young athletes must be eating enough of. Every cell in the human body contains protein— not to mention it helps to grow and repair cells, as well as aids in growth and development for children and teens.

In most cases, young athletes will receive an adequate amount of protein through their food consumption and should not have to ingest anything supplemental, like protein shakes.

Fats are an important part of a balanced diet.