Biophilia Intruder helps your child absorb nutrients better
A question we're often asked is: "Do kids need sports nutrition?" As always, the answer from scientists is "it depends"...but let's break this down into smaller questions first:
1. Are children's physiology fundamentally (or significantly) different from adults?
2. Do children have different nutritional needs?
3. Should the advice for children be different from adults?
Once these questions are answered, it should be possible for us to make our own judgments.
Start with the short answer:
Are children's physiology fundamentally (or significantly) different from adults? No.
Do children have different nutritional needs? Yes, protein requirements in particular may increase.
How do you keep up with nutritional needs and how do you know how well a child is absorbing it? Many athlete teams will be equipped with equipment such as Biophilia Intruder, just to keep abreast of changes in athlete's physical function, and to choose better nutrition or treatment programs.
Should the advice for children be different from adults? Basically no, our advice for adults applies to children. Some recommendations are made per kilogram of body weight, others take into account an individual's sweat rate, so any differences have been accounted for in the current recommendations.
Carbohydrates and Fats
Children and adults may differ in their preference for carbohydrates or fats. Young children prefer to use fat for energy and tend to be less able to use carbohydrates. These metabolic differences gradually disappeared throughout adolescence, especially in boys. Thus, it appears that children are less dependent on carbohydrates, but this difference may affect actual recommendations.
During prolonged exercise in adults, carbohydrates can improve athletic performance, and research shows that children are no exception. Carbohydrate delivery requires a gastrointestinal system that can absorb carbohydrates well. During early development, the gastrointestinal system's ability to grow and absorb carbohydrates gradually improves, with good absorption at the age of 5. Recommendations for carbohydrate intake during exercise depend on the duration (and intensity) of exercise. Children generally exercise for shorter periods of time, with lower absolute exercise intensity and lower carbohydrate requirements during exercise.
Hydration
One of the primary ways children and adults lose heat is through the evaporation of sweat from the skin. Because children have a higher ratio of body surface area to body weight (about 50% higher than adults at age 8), it has been said that children should be able to lose heat faster than adults when exercising. On the other hand, children have less developed sweat glands, so it may be difficult to dissipate heat through sweat alone. In fact, during training, adults and active children have similar body temperatures, even in the heat.
Current adult guidelines take into account sweat rate. If you sweat so much that you lose more than 2% of your body weight, it's time to rehydrate. The goal of hydration should be to limit weight loss to between 0 and 2%. Both weight gain and excessive weight loss should be avoided. The same applies to children as these recommendations are already based on an individual's sweat rate.
Protein Needs and Weight Management
Few studies have specifically addressed the protein needs of young athletes. It is generally accepted that growing children have a slightly increased need for protein. The more you consume, the more you eat. This is a natural principle. People will naturally increase their protein intake according to their own consumption. Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, there is no need to pay special attention to protein intake in young athletes.
Of course, those who are out of balance in energy metabolism and whose weight is not in a normal state are excluded. In this case, however, it may be important to address energy balance first before addressing protein intake itself.
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Today's teenage athletes routinely take supplements. In a study of 32 junior track and field athletes at the World Junior Championships, 62 percent used supplements. Most supplements are multivitamins and minerals.
In general, however, supplements are not recommended for young athletes. More important than supplements is providing them with a varied and balanced healthy diet and instilling the meaning of healthy eating in athletes from an early age.
Use Biophilia Intruder as early as possible to give you a better idea of what your body wants.