Do kids need sports nutrition?
A question we often get asked is: “Do kids need sports nutrition?” As always, scientists’ answer is “it depends”…but let’s break the question down into a few smaller questions first:
1. Are children’s physiology fundamentally (or significantly) different from adults?
2. Do children have different nutritional needs?
3. Should advice for children be different than for adults?
As long as we answer these questions, it should be possible for us to make our own judgment.
Start with the short answer:
Is children's physiology fundamentally (or significantly) different from adults? No.
Do children have different nutritional needs? Yes, protein requirements in particular may be increased.
How do you keep up with nutritional needs and how do you know your child’s absorption level? Many athlete teams carry equipment such as the Biophilia Intruder with them in order to understand the changes in the athletes' physical functions at any time and choose better nutrition or treatment plans.
Should advice for children differ 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 taken into account 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 have a lower ability to use carbohydrates. These metabolic differences gradually disappear throughout adolescence, especially in boys. Therefore, it appears that children are less dependent on carbohydrates, but this difference may affect actual recommendations.
Carbohydrates improve performance during prolonged exercise in adults, and research shows children are no exception. Carbohydrate delivery requires a gastrointestinal system that is well equipped to absorb carbohydrates. In early development, the gastrointestinal system's ability to grow and absorb carbohydrates gradually improves, and good absorptive capabilities are achieved by the age of 5 years. Recommendations for carbohydrate intake during exercise depend on the duration (and intensity) of exercise. Children's exercise time is generally shorter, the absolute intensity of exercise is lower, and the need for carbohydrates during exercise is also lower.
hydration
One of the main ways children and adults lose heat is through 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), some say children should be able to lose heat faster than adults during exercise. But on the other hand, children have less developed sweat glands, so it may be difficult to dissipate heat through sweating alone. In fact, during training, adults and active children have similar body temperatures, even at high temperatures.
Current adult guidelines take sweat rate into account. If you sweat too much and lose more than 2% of your weight, you should replenish water. The goal of hydration should be to control weight loss between 0 and 2%. Both weight gain and excessive weight loss should be avoided. This applies to children as well, as these recommendations are already based on an individual's sweat rate.
Protein needs and weight management
There are few studies specifically focusing on 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 natural. 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 with energy metabolism imbalances and those with abnormal body weight are excluded. However, in this case, it may be important to first address energy balance before addressing protein intake itself.
tonic
Today's teen athletes regularly take supplements. In a study of 32 youth track and field athletes competing at the World Youth Athletics Championships, 62% used supplements. Most supplements are multivitamins and minerals.
However, in general, 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 into athletes from an early age.
Use Biophilia Intruder as early as possible to help you understand more clearly what your body wants.