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“One night, my 3-year-old asked me if she could sleep in my bed. I told her no. She said, “That’s not fair! Why does Daddy get to sleep in your bed?” READ MORE
Health: In Shape
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Feeding your athlete, a spoonful at a time Another crazy Saturday. Not only is my daughter Jen playing one softball game and umpiring another, she’s also playing in a basketball tournament. It looks like a stressful day with a lot of activity and the local March Madness trophy on the line. That means a lot of calories are going to be burned and will need to be replaced. Those replacement calories shouldn’t be empty ones; as a sports parent you want to select foods with maximum nutritional value. This isn’t just an academic discussion: My 13-year-old still gets cranky when she’s undernourished. And her game suffers. When you see one of these Saturdays coming up on the calendar, prepare. If you don’t make the nutritional effort, you’re going to be left with quick pit stops to grab fast food, which tends to be greasy, salty and highly processed – in other words, stripped of vitamins and hard to digest. Preparation is key In my case, the Thursday before that busy Saturday, I realized the fridge was nearly empty. Then I learned that my wife would be at a business conference all day Saturday. Getting the kids fed was up to me. I logged on to www.albertsons.com and ordered yogurt, cheese, bagels, tuna fish, oranges, chips, cottage cheese, bologna, bread, as well as some treats: low-fat chocolate pudding and the like. Friday night, my wife ordered a couple of fresh-baked pizzas to ensure plenty of leftovers. When Saturday rolled around, we were adequately stocked up. Jen’s breakfast that day was a bagel, toasted with melted cheese and a little tuna salad, sliced oranges and yogurt. Lunch was reheated pineapple and ham pizza, Sun chips, cottage cheese and a chilled Del Monte fruit cup. She had plenty of adequate nutrition for umping in the morning and playing softball at noon. Jen didn’t want a big meal before her late-afternoon basketball game, so I had to bring something nutritious but light to eat between games, not to mention plenty of water. I packed a banana, a Tiger’s Milk protein bar, a few slices of bologna and another piece of pizza into a small cooler. I planned to offer Jen any of these as snacks for the car ride between softball and basketball; she’d simultaneously change uniforms and get a much-needed bite. Not just game day You might assume that I believe good sports nutrition is something reserved for game day only. This is not true; good nutritional habits are rooted in the everyday routine. Each meal, find a balance of carbs, fats and proteins for your child’s plate. Whole-grain breads and less-processed foods should be favored over fast foods and highly processed snacks with lots of sodium and preservatives. As for the amount of food consumed, teens and older children who are playing sports should be getting at least 1,500 calories a day and as many as 3,000 calories a day if they’re very active. Your doctor should be able to make a precise caloric-intake recommendation for your child. Here’s my personal nutritional pearl of wisdom: I favor oranges as a staple carbohydrate. I serve them to my kids several times a day. Maybe that’s because oranges are vitamin rich, natural and readily available throughout the year here. Or maybe that’s because as a child growing up in Orange County 30 years ago, I used to bike through the orange groves with my brother. We rode for hours, and put in plenty of miles, with oranges as our only fuel. Ideal world guidelines How closely does all of this match the ideal nutritional mix recommended by physicians? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published guidelines for sports nutrition. These guidelines are useful and important to the parents of youth athletes, but how do they apply in the real world, where parents are busy and children are fussy about what they eat? Below are some comparisons between the AAP’s ideal world of sports nutrition and the real world that most of us inhabit. The AAP says that young athletes should eat at least half of their calories in carbohydrates, one-third in fat and the remainder in protein, so I describe those categories of food in more detail below. Also, you’ll find the AAP’s do’s and don’ts of sports nutrition. Carbs Carbs include bread, pasta, cereals, vegetables, fruits and fruit juices. Carbs should account for more than half of the calories consumed by a young athlete, especially in pre-game and pre-practice meals. Don’t impose low-carb diets or your athlete will run out of energy before the game is done. Ideal World: At least one-half and as many as three-quarters of the food consumed pre-game should be carbs. Also feed your child carbohydrate-rich foods after games for quicker replenishment and muscle recovery. Real World: It’s hard to scientifically measure the exact percentage of calories consumed as carbohydrates, but you can make ballpark guesses. Proteins and fats Meat, chicken, cheese, milk and nuts are proteins. Serve young athletes about 20% of their calories in the form of protein-based foods. If your child is an adolescent undergoing weight training, consider adding a somewhat higher percentage of protein to his diet. But adolescent athletes should steer away from high-protein diets because those diets increase the risk of dehydration. Fats include oils, butters, dressings and margarines. These are high in calories even in small serving sizes. Fat should form about one-quarter of you child’s caloric intake. Ideal World: Proteins should make up less than a quarter of the calories consumed. Fats should be a little more than a quarter, and the rest should be carbs. Real World: Again, the measurement is tricky. A food that you think is high in protein can be rife with fat, especially where fast food is concerned. Chicken nuggets, for instance, are fatty chicken cooked in oil and deliver as much fat as protein. To get an accurate measurement, buy fresh groceries from the store and preparing pre-game foods yourself. This way, you can read labels and tally the amounts of calories, fats, carbs and proteins. Fluids Water is the best fluid. Gatorade and other sports drinks are the next best, but may increase a player’s thirst because of sodium content. Carbonated beverages such as soft drinks actually increase thirst. Ideal World: Bring bottles of water stored in a handy cooler to games and practices. Offer the children plain water before you offer them sports drinks. Try to replace with water any body weight lost by a child during a strenuous sports activity. Real World: Sometimes you forget the water and so do I. Borrow a bottle of water from a coach or parent at a game, if necessary, or find a drinking fountain, but don’t let your child get thirsty during a hot game or practice. Pre-game meals Your perfect pre-game meal should be spread out over the hours before game time, according to the AAP. Offer a meal with yogurt, a peanut butter sandwich, a bowl of cereal or a ham or bologna sandwich three or more hours before a game. Offer some rolls or bagels about two hours before the game, and fresh fruit or juice one hour before. Don’t give your child fatty, high-fiber, high-salt, or gassy foods before games. Ideal World: You’ve planned a meal with fresh fruit, spaghetti and meat sauce, low-fat yogurt and cheese for three hours before the game. You supply some juice and a bagel snack an hour or two before the game. Real World: You’re grabbing a burger and fries on the way to the game. If your kid is starving, she needs to eat some food, any food, before she can perform throughout a long game. But try to eat light immediately before a game – fresh fruit and Gatorade are good choices. If your child, like mine, declares that hamburgers help her hit the ball harder, then by all means, add hamburgers to your list of pre-game foods. Avoid shakes and French fries because most kids’ stomachs can’t handle rich dairy products or oily high-fat foods before a big game. In short, the real-world application of nutritional guidelines to your child’s diet will never be perfect, but it’s easy to find little ways to improve. To finish the story that I started in the beginning of this article, the end result was that my daughter charged through her busy Saturday at full speed from start to finish. Her team didn’t win the March Madness tournament but got second place. I told her that night, “It’s not if you win or lose, it’s how you played the game – and you played it well.” Then she hit the pillow at 9 p.m. and was out like a light. Her mom and I paused to catch our breath and think about the next day. Sunday is always a good morning for fresh juice and French toast … David Kries writes from Mission Viejo. Do’s and dont’s Do: Provide a wide variety of healthy, whole foods to your young athlete, and have them eat a balanced meal three hours before a game. Offer a snack of fresh fruit, crackers and a sports drink an hour before. Don’t: Skip a meal or adequate fluids before a long, strenuous game or practice because a hectic schedule makes it hard to find time to eat. Do: Eat carbohydrates 30 minutes after intense exercise and again two hours later. Don’t: Forget to replenish liquids and calories in your young athlete after a contest or intense workout; his muscle recovery will take longer otherwise. Do: Get vitamins and minerals from nutrition-rich foods. Don’t: Offer vitamins or other supplements to make up for a poor diet, especially those supplements that include unproven or potentially dangerous ingredients. Do: Limit rich, fatty foods before a game because they can cause stomach upset and are usually less nutritious. Don’t: Ban hamburgers and pizza outright from your list of pre-game foods, especially if your child says that these foods don’t hamper her performance. Your child can tell you which foods work best. |
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