As if trying to feed teenagers a nutritious diet weren’t tough enough at times, taking care of your adolescent athlete can be even more of a challenge. Not to mention that as the parent of an athlete, you’re busy. In addition to driving your athlete to practices and games, you’re stocking up at the grocery store to try to keep up with their appetite. Proper nutrition is imperative for optimal growth and peak performance in adolescents. Unfortunately, most American youth today do not meet the minimum recommended amount of fruits, vegetables, or whole grains, and most go far beyond the recommended daily intake of sodium. On average U.S. teenagers consume more soda than milk or other healthful beverages. How is your teenager doing, and what is it they need?
Carbohydrates
When most people think of a performance or sports diets they think of carb loading, protein shakes and sports drinks like Gatorade. There’s a lot more to it than that, though. Without adding sports into the equation, teenagers already require extra calories for growth (as if you haven’t noticed that your teenagers seem to be eating you out of house and home). Depending on their sport and activity level your athlete may need up to 4,000 calories/day. Yes, although your MVP can afford to eat those extra doughnuts during his two-a-days in the summer, the bottom line is that it’s not developing good habits for a future time when he’s no longer as active. It will catch up on him. Not to mention, the doughnuts aren’t providing any other sustainable nutrients. The right kinds of carbohydrates are very important to an athlete, though, so let’s talk about how to use them.
Complex carbohydrates provide sustained energy, which is why they’re eaten by most athletes before a game, competition, or long race. The appropriate amount of extra carbohydrates will be stored in the form of glycogen (long chains) for later use as energy – perfect for your athlete! A carbohydrate meal such as orange juice, toast, and jelly can be eaten 3-4 hours before competition. Easily-digested and carbohydrate-rich foods such as banana, bread with jam or honey, or bite-sized pieces of low-fat granola are great snacks to have on hand to keep the fuel up during a long event. The key to carbohydrate consumption is to ensure that you’re not just throwing “empty nutrients” at them. Offer your teen lots of whole-grain bread, potatoes, legumes, corn, whole-wheat pasta, hearty cereals and fruit.
Carbohydrate loading is beneficial when an athlete will be exercising for more than 90 minutes at a time, or at many intervals during a 24-hour period. This means eating nearly 70% of total calories from carbohydrates 15 hours before a competition in order to build up large glycogen storage, preventing muscle fatigue later. It also means an appropriate tapering of activity in the days before. If this is something your teen wants to do, it’s best to speak with his/her coach prior to be sure they’re on board with this plan.
Protein
What about the all-famous protein? Doesn’t it build muscle? While amino acids are essential for helping build our muscles, an exorbitant amount of protein is not necessary. Strength-training builds muscle. It is simply important to consume enough protein to ensure that our body doesn’t break down muscle to use as energy while training. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics teenagers in the U.S. already consume twice their protein needs. However, your athlete does need more than their average peers. Protein supplements like protein shakes are not necessary if eating a well-balanced diet, and remember that protein comes from sources other than meat (eggs pack one of the most powerful protein punches). The recommendation is that endurance athletes should get 1.2-1.4 g of protein/kg of body weight. Strength-trained athletes may need up to 1.6-1.7 g protein/kg body weight. (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds).
Vitamins and Minerals
Though vitamin and mineral needs may increase slightly for athletes, these needs can be easily met by a well-balanced diet. Daily supplements are only needed if you have particular concern that your teenager isn’t getting adequate nutrients through their food. You may hear it over and over again, but it’s true: it’s the well-balanced, multi-colored diet that’s key. One nutrient to be on the lookout for, however, is iron. Iron deficiency is most prevalent in adolescent athletes, particularly females. Iron helps the red blood cells deliver oxygen to the muscles as they work. Some iron-containing foods to include in their diet are meat, legumes, vegetables, and grains. Before pumping your athlete with iron supplements it is beneficial to have a blood test at the doctor to diagnose if there is an iron deficiency. Over-dosing on iron can cause abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Those symptoms are sure to inhibit performance!
Fluids
What’s last, but has just as much importance as the others? Don’t ignore the fluids. Drinking water is just as important as eating foods. It’s needed to control body temperature, prevent heat exhaustion and even death, in extreme conditions. It’s important to drink plenty of water not just during an event, but also before and after.
Recommendations for fluid consumption are as follows:
2 hours prior to event/activity: 16 oz.
5-10 minutes pre-activity: 4-8 oz.
During the event: 8 oz. every 30 minutes
After the event: at least 24 ounces
Fluids consumed with carbohydrate-rich foods help to speed up the transport of that fuel to the muscles during that long-endurance event. While sports drinks like Gatorade can provide important electrolytes such as potassium and sodium that are lost in sweat during exercise, watch out for sports drinks that look deceptively healthy, but contain little more than sugar. Electrolyte packets are available if you simply want hydration with electrolytes and nothing more. It’s really all about the combination. Too many carbohydrates or not enough fluids can result in cramping or other intestinal problems/discomforts. The goal is a happy, healthy athlete who is developing good eating habits for life!