We all have busy lives, but as parents we are responsible for teaching our athletes proper eating habits and also monitoring when they eat and when.
Want your child to play a better game? Be more alert, focused and responsive on the field? Not only is what they eat important but how often and when they eat is too! An ideal daily pattern to follow is: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack, provided the choices are healthy and well-balanced.
Breakfast – Always eat breakfast. Period. The excuses of sleeping in or not being hungry both have detrimental effects on our health. As an athlete, breakfast is crucial to optimal performance on the field…and in school, too! The body has essentially been fasting for 10-12 hours and needs to recharge its battery. A quick bowl of cereal with milk, small glass of real juice, a slice of whole grain toast, boiled egg, bowl of oatmeal – all good choices. Don’t forget a glass of water, especially if you don’t like juice.
Snacks – avoid the mood swings and allow the body to be constantly fueled by not allowing your tank to run dry. In between your main meals choose a healthy snack; cereal bar, cheese string, whole grain pita, veggie sticks, fruit, or cottage cheese to snack on. Believe it or not, chocolate milk is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and fat and most kids love it. If there is no time for a snack, grab a carton of chocolate milk.
Kid’s tastes are learned, in most cases. If we offer healthy choices, and only healthy choices, they will eventually learn to like them. Although healthy food generally takes prep time for parents, are children’s health (and our own) is worth it.
Lunch and dinner – Make sure they eat both of these meals, especially on game day. Since kids burn large numbers of calories due to their metabolism we rarely have to worry about them gaining weight. Athletes don’t need to follow the South Beach diet! We do have to make sure that there is a balanced amount of carbs, proteins and healthy fat in their meals so their bodies and brains can continue to develop. 1-2 hours before a game, food is essential. Not a huge turkey dinner or they will be sluggish! Tip: Offer a pre-game snack such as a piece of fruit or a fruit source bar or fruit to go (real fruit snack NOT fruit by the foot or similar). A burst of natural sugar seems to improve performance.
Again, remember to hydrate all the time - Drinking water eventually becomes a routine for children and it will replace the poorer choices such as pop and high sugar juice-like products. Properly fueled bodies will yield players with higher levels of energy, focus and ultimately result in a higher level of team success.
