Getting children involved in sports from a young age is always going to be a positive step. Helping them to develop physically and mentally, sports can also help to motivate them in other areas of their life. If there seems to be an interest in really taking up the sport more seriously, it is important to keep an eye on their nutrition.
Sports nutrition is always important, but in children this is even more so the case. For both adults and kids, protein is vital. In children, this is more so as the muscles are still developing whilst extra stress is delivered through exercise regimes.
In active adults, dietary concerns are often hand in hand with low fat foods. In children, this should not be the case. Young athletes should have healthy levels of saturated fat and should certainly have plenty of unsaturated fats found in nuts, olive oil and fish.
Overall, young athletes working out each day should eat at least 3,000 calories per day. The diet should be healthy and varied, with regular meals. Snacks should also be welcome between meal times, but should be optimised to target energy levels which may be low. However, more important than food are fluids, which should be taken constantly.
Iron and calcium levels should be looked at carefully too. Here again, child athletes are prone to deficiencies due to the growth process. Again, sports supplements can be used to boost these levels, though getting the majority from natural foods is important. Monitoring girls for iron and calcium levels becomes increasingly important as they hit puberty.
Supplements can be used effectively for kids’ sports nutrition, whilst seeking advice from a GP over how best to sustain a healthy diet is always good. At Myprotein, we can also help with advice and provide discount products to help you with your child’s success.