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Home › Articles › Your Children › Eat Well, Play Better

Eat Well, Play Better

Feeding Your Child Athlete

By Lisa Marie Metzler

Pages:  1  2  3  

Water or Sports Drinks?

"Water is the best fluid replacement, because the body quickly absorbs it," Walker says.

Children, especially younger ones, may not recognize their bodies' need for water. Encourage your children to drink before, during and after the game, whether they feel thirsty or not. A child can suffer from heat exhaustion, heat stroke or muscle cramps if not properly hydrated. "If the body is not well-hydrated, energy will go to regulating temperature instead of to the muscles and limit playing ability," Lair says.

Wendy Marquez of Greenlawn, N.Y., doesn't leave the house without a bottle of water, which she prefers to sports drinks. "Some of them have sugar, which really doesn't quench their thirst as well as plain water," she says.

If you do provide your child with a sports drink, be a label reader. Avoid buying drinks with high fructose corn syrup and highly refined sugars. According to Lair, sports drinks that are heavy in sweeteners actually contribute to dehydration in your children. For children who don't prefer the taste of plain water, Lair suggests diluting the sports drink by one half.

Post Game Re-Fuel

Occasionally, you may be tempted to treat or console (depending on the final score!) your child with a sugary treat after the game. Although this is OK from time to time, remember that your child will also need to recoup her energy stores too. "Continue to eat high-carbohydrate foods after the game or practice," Walker says. "A full meal may be better tolerated in the hours following a game rather than beforehand."

Proper hydration doesn't end at the game. Make sure your child drinks after the game too. Lair recommends a half liter after the game. With proper, daily nutrition and ample water consumption, your little superstar will play better and enjoy the game more.

Fitness-friendly Kids' Recipes

Jackie Keller, owner of NutriFit, a gourmet, healthy meal delivery service in Los Angeles, offers these kid-tested recipes to rev up your child athlete.

Swedish Muesli

1 cup low fat yogurt
1/2 cup crunchy low fat granola cereal
2 tbsp. all natural slivered almonds
1/2 cup berries (whatever is in season) or 1/2 cup diced apple

Directions: Mix the fruit with the yogurt and place in a cup or bowl. Mix the granola with the nuts and top the yogurt with the cereal.

Razzleberry Smoothie

1/2 cup no-sugar-added raspberry-vanilla frozen yogurt or frozen vanilla yogurt
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries or berry mixture (or fresh, unsweetened berries)
1/2 small banana

Directions: Put all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

Lovosh (unleavened flat bread) Roll-up with Peanut Butter and Tofu

1/4 cup peanut butter/tofu mixture* (see directions)
1 serving whole grain fresh lavosh
1/2 banana or 1/4 cup raisins or other favorite dried fruit.

Directions: Put equal parts reduced fat, all natural peanut butter (if not available, use regular) and reduced fat tofu in a food processor and blend until tofu is completely incorporated in mixture.

Spread peanut butter/tofu mixture in the middle of the lavosh, then sprinkle dried fruit or place sliced banana on bread and roll up.

* Almond butter or roasted soy butter may be substituted for those with peanut allergies.


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