Properly Fueling Your Child for Sports

CLEVELAND - If your child plays a sport after school, it’s important to make sure they are properly fueled, otherwise it could impact their performance.

“Any kid who is doing a sport after school, I always say they have to have a snack. And the quantity of the snack, the stomach capacity, and the timing of sport is really independent child to child. So that is something where if you're having trouble figuring that out, we would suggest meeting with a dietitian or talking with your doctor to get some guidance. But that being said, general advice is that the kids are eating some carbohydrates before their sport,” said Jennifer Hyland, RD, registered dietitian at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.

Hyland said carbs are recommended since they break down quicker in the body versus something with fiber or healthy fats.

Running on a full stomach isn’t exactly ideal.

So, what are some good carb options?

You could give your child a granola bar, pretzels with hummus, trail mix, raisins, a smoothie, yogurt or fruit.

Hyland advises against eating anything too sugary or ultra-processed, like a bag of chips or candy.

She also notes that timing snacks or meals around practice can be tricky.

“Something that comes up a lot of times is kids who have slightly later practices, they don't want to eat this big dinner before because they're worried about how it's going to feel on their stomach. I think it's perfectly reasonable to split things up a little bit. Maybe we have part of dinner before, a small plate, and then we eat the rest of our dinner afterwards. Or maybe we have a larger size snack before, right when you get home from school, around say 3:00 or 3:30 p.m. If your practice isn't until 5.30, that's still plenty of time, and then you can eat afterwards,” she said.

Hyland also emphasizes the importance of staying hydrated.

She recommends making sure your child is drinking plenty of water throughout the day versus chugging a bunch right before practice.