Lisa Lovejoy, MEd, RD, CSSD, CD<\/a>, a sports dietitian at MultiCare Orthopedics & Sports Medicine. \u201cIt\u2019s just as important in athletics as the warm-up, cool down and practice.\u201d<\/p>\nCarbs are key<\/h2>\n
Many athletes believe the key to their success is protein. But protein is mostly important for helping muscles recover after activity. For peak performance, it\u2019s carbohydrates that athletic bodies crave.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarbs are what athletes need,\u201d Lovejoy says. \u201cThey are the fuel for the muscle. It\u2019s amazing how little protein you need to do that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many sports leanness is emphasized,\u201d Dr. Purses says. \u201cThis often leads to athletes reducing their carbohydrate intake; then their performance suffers.\u201d<\/p>\n
This doesn’t mean student athletes need to live on bread and pasta alone. Carbohydrates come in many forms \u2014 from whole grains to vegetables \u2014 so choosing a variety of foods that contain carbohydrates can help them get the balance they need.<\/p>\n
Water does a body good<\/h2>\n
Kids who play sports need to stay hydrated, especially when they are working hard during a game or match. And they shouldn’t wait until they feel thirsty before they take a drink.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to drink ahead of your thirst,\u201d Dr. Purses says.<\/p>\n
He recommends at least eight cups of fluids a day \u2014 and likely more if your athlete is playing a strenuous sport for longer than one hour at a time.<\/p>\n
What should they be drinking? Water is always a good choice. Sports drinks are also recommended for athletes working hard for more than an hour. Avoid energy drinks that only deliver a load of caffeine or drinks that contain herbal \u201csupplements.\u201d Herbal supplements of any kind are not recommended for children and teens at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupplements are not FDA regulated,\u201d says Dr. Purses. \u201cYou don\u2019t really know for sure what\u2019s in them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not advise people under 18 to be consuming supplements, like creatine,\u201d says Lovejoy. \u201cThere is simply not enough research done to know if they are harmful to kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t forget their bones<\/h2>\n
Muscle strength and cardio endurance are important for good sports performance. So are strong, healthy bones \u2014 especially for kids, whose bodies are still developing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that age range, you\u2019re building a lot of bone mass for the future,\u201d Dr. Purses says.<\/p>\n
Calcium and vitamin D are important for building bones. Athletes who don\u2019t get enough can suffer loss of bone mass and stress fractures. Student athletes should be getting around 1,300 milligrams of calcium a day up to age 18, according to Lovejoy. This is especially important for female athletes at this age, who also need extra iron because they are at a greater risk for iron deficiency.<\/p>\n
Send the right messages<\/h2>\n
Kids and teens who play sports sometimes feel pressured to have the right \u201clook\u201d for their sport. This can lead to poor food choices. So it\u2019s important for coaches and parents to send positive messages to their athletes about body image, eating right and being healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoaches and parents have a huge impact,\u201d says Lovejoy.<\/p>\n
Luckily, there\u2019s nothing complicated about helping your student athlete eat right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere aren’t any miracle foods out there,\u201d Dr. Purses says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about getting a good variety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially when they participate in sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,95],"tags":[163],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kids-health","category-orthopedics","tag-back-to-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MultiCare Vitals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/multicarehealthsystem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-23T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-09T15:20:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/04\/sports-nutrition.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2121\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maura Hallam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@akoziol\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Maura Hallam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2f09fa60d7c21ff9d56df838db1bd58\"},\"headline\":\"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-23T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-09T15:20:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":590,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Back-to-School\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Kids' Health\",\"Orthopedics & Sports Medicine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-23T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-09T15:20:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/\",\"name\":\"MultiCare Vitals\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MultiCare\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/MultiCare-Color.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/MultiCare-Color.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":409,\"caption\":\"MultiCare\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/multicarehealthsystem\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/multicarehealth\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/multicare-health-system\\\/mycompany\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/multicarehealth\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2f09fa60d7c21ff9d56df838db1bd58\",\"name\":\"Maura Hallam\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/akoziol\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/author\\\/mkhallam\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes","description":"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes","og_description":"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.","og_url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/","og_site_name":"MultiCare Vitals","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/multicarehealthsystem","article_published_time":"2019-09-23T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-09T15:20:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2121,"height":1414,"url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/04\/sports-nutrition.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Maura Hallam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes","twitter_description":"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.","twitter_creator":"@akoziol","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/"},"author":{"name":"Maura Hallam","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/person\/f2f09fa60d7c21ff9d56df838db1bd58"},"headline":"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes","datePublished":"2019-09-23T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-09T15:20:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/"},"wordCount":590,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#organization"},"keywords":["Back-to-School"],"articleSection":["Kids' Health","Orthopedics & Sports Medicine"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/","name":"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-23T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-09T15:20:46+00:00","description":"Making sure your kids eat right is important, especially in sports. It's just as important as the warm-up, cool down and practice.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/back-to-school-care-feeding-student-athletes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Back to school: The care and feeding of student athletes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#website","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/","name":"MultiCare Vitals","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#organization","name":"MultiCare","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/MultiCare-Color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/MultiCare-Color.png","width":1500,"height":409,"caption":"MultiCare"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/multicarehealthsystem","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/multicarehealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/multicare-health-system\/mycompany\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/multicarehealth"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/person\/f2f09fa60d7c21ff9d56df838db1bd58","name":"Maura Hallam","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/akoziol"],"url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/author\/mkhallam\/"}]}},"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34555,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions\/34555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}