Ten Nutrition Tips for Parents of Young Athletes
By
Tom Sullivan
It’s your responsibility as parents to start developing good habits for your
children in all aspects of life. Nutrition is no different. We need to start
building a solid foundation of habits that lead to higher levels of performance
and health.
Below, I’ve put together ten simple tips that you can use immediately to get
your kids eating healthier.
- Breakfast: A good breakfast includes eggs, cheese, meat, whole
wheat toast or an English muffin, juice (100 percent variety), and some
water. Note that a good breakfast does not include Pop Tarts,
cereal, Toaster Strudels, donuts, muffins, or any other processed garbage.
This tip is number one for a reason. We need to start getting our athletes
used to eating a large, healthy breakfast.
- More water, less sugary crap: We need to get children used to
drinking water as the main beverage. Read the labels of Gatorade or Powerade.
Do you think it’s a good idea to have them downing that much sugar? The same
goes for soda.
- Fewer drive thrus: This goes for all drive-thrus. If you can get
it at a drive-thru, you probably don’t want it in your body or in your
child’s body. If you’re in a pinch for time, go to a sub shop and order
something that looks like grilled chicken or a steak wrap accompanied by a
small bag of chips and some water.
- Fruits and vegetables: Try to find a couple of each that your kid
likes and start putting them in lunches and dinners immediately. Don’t send
a granola bar to school with them. Send a baggie of fresh berries or a
banana.
- Home-cooked meals: These should make up the majority of your
child’s diet. This is where they will get the most nutrients that will fuel
their active lives.
- Real meals before games: The old carb loading feasts that often
accompany a team dinner are a waste of time. Overloading on starchy pasta
that isn’t really good for you in the first place is a bad idea. The kids
will have better results from a normal, healthy meal.
- Cell phones: While not really a nutrition tip, I thought this was
a good opportunity to sneak this in. Seeing an 11-year-old texting on a cell
phone makes me want to puke. I have no problem with giving them a phone for
emergency purposes or when they’re going to need to be picked up. However,
kids should be interacting with each other, not with a screen and keypad.
- Candy bars: Candy bars are filled with crap. If kids really like
them, try to trade them for Cliff Bars. These things are delicious and are
made from mostly organic ingredients. They are a much better snack.
- Meal portions: Kids are at an important age where portion control
is crucial. They shouldn’t be eating until they can’t move. This only
cements habits of overeating in the future and keeps our obesity problem in
American growing. Teach them to eat until they are satisfied, not stuffed. I
hate seeing obese kids because it’s usually not their fault.
- Food Nazi: Just because I’ve given you these tips doesn’t mean
that you need to restrict everything your kids eat and make their diets
strict. Use these tips as guidelines and remember that your kids are still
kids. What is going overboard? The drive thru more than once every ten days
is no good but neither is counting calories or grams of protein consumed.
Find a happy medium and start building good habits.
Tom Sullivan runs Sullivan Training Systems in Braintree, Massachusetts,
where he specializes in helping young athletes develop speed, strength, and
injury-proof bodies. He can be reached at
tssullivanjr@gmail.com or at
www.tsullsworld.blogspot.com.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
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