Left to their own devices, many kids' idea of sports nutrition is to attempt to replenish their energy stores via short-term fixes such as food high in sugar, soft drinks or energy drinks. Not only can this cause them to "crash and burn" later on when the short-term energy runs out, it can also poorly affect their …show more content…
Eating balanced, nutrient-rich diets is the backbone of sports nutrition and is essential to the health and performance levels of youth athletes.
The most important nutrition sources for a child are protein, carbohydrates, fat and fluids. Not getting enough of any of those four can stunt a youth athlete's competitive performance and overall health. Proteins are essential to muscle recovery, carbs provide much of the actual energy to perform athletic activities and fat is needed to help kids grow.
One of the big differences between youth sports nutrition and sports nutrition for adults is how they get the two groups get their energy to exercise. Some studies show that kids derive more energy from fats then from carbohydrates, meaning they should have good reserves of fats when preparing to engage in long physical activities, while adults are known to use far more carbs for energy.
Another thing to consider is that children's bodies are constantly growing, and need nutrients that support these