Eating for your child’s sport

by Suzanne Nelson, Sc.D., RD, MomsTeam.com

Eating For Short-Duration Events/Stop-And-Go Sports

• Don’t allow your child’s muscle stores of glycogen, ATP, and CP to be exhausted by hard exercise immediately before the event.
• Make sure calorie intake is adequate for several days prior to the event.
• During training, make sure your child eats at least the minimum of servings from the Food Guide Pyramid.

• Athletes in short-term events (one lasting up to four minutes) and “stop-and-go” sports (basketball, football, volleyball, and soccer) require fluids and carbohydrates throughout the day of the competition.
• Failure to refuel and replace fluid losses because your child has to compete again can cause performance to deteriorate, particularly towards the end of the day.
• If less than an hour between competitions, have your child consume a sports drink.
• When there are several hours between events, have your child eat easily digestible, carbohydrate-dense snacks such as fruit, grain products (fig bars, bagels, graham crackers), low fat-yogurt, sports bars, and liquid meals in addition to drinking fluids.
• When events are separated by three hours or more, your child can consume high-carbohydrate meals.

Eating For Intermediate-Length Events

In the days leading up to the event:

• Make sure muscle glycogen stores are adequate. Because muscle glycogen is the predominant fuel for these events, and restoration of muscle glycogen takes 24 to 48 hours, your child needs to:
  • Reduce training (taper) several days prior to competition and eat a high carbohydrate diet.
• Replace fluids lost during training sessions so as not to be dehydrated entering competition, which can impair performance and increase the risk of heat illnesses.

Eating For Endurance Events

Here are some nutritional recommendations for endurance athletes:

• Week prior to event (for event lasting longer than 90 minutes): maximize muscle glycogen through carbohydrate loading.
• 1 to 4 hours before prolonged training and competition, consume a carbohydrate rich meal.
• For events lasting 1 hour or longer: consume carbohydrates during the day of competition.
• During all events: insure proper hydration. For fluid replacement guidelines, click here.

• Consuming carbohydrate-rich foods and fluids during stop-and-go and endurance sports lasting an hour or longer can improve performance by providing glucose for muscles when they are running low on glycogen, allowing the athlete to maintain pace longer and/or sprint harder at the end of exercise
• Your child should try to consume 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate (120 to 140 calories) ever hour. He or she can obtain this amount from either carbohydrate-rich foods and/or sports drinks.
• An adequate amount of carbohydrates can come from any of the following:

• One banana (30 grams of carbohydrate)
• One Power Bar (47 grams).
• Two gels (about 50 grams)
• Four small fig bars (42 grams)
• Two large graham crackers (42 grams)
• 20 to 40 ounces of a properly formulated (4-8% carbohydrates) sports drink (36 grams for 20 ounces of Sunny D Intense Sport).

• Food and drink should be consumed before your child feels hungry or tired, usually within 30 minutes after starting exercise.

Consuming small amounts at frequent intervals (every 30 to 60 minutes) helps to promote hydration, maintain blood glucose levels, and prevent gastrointestinal upset.