What are the Nutritional needs of a young athlete?

The practice of physical activity is recommended for any age and should be encouraged from childhood so that regular habits are created from an early age.

When we talk about competitive sports, the physical and training demands are increased, and training starts at an early age. In some sports, athletes reach their peak when they are adolescents and/or young adults, so nutritional monitoring in this phase is crucial. Nutritional adaptation is extremely important for physical and sport performance, as well as to promote the best development and maturation of the athlete’s body.

When intense physical exercise in childhood is combined with inadequate nutrition, the skeletal growth of the child may be compromised, regardless of their gender. Therefore, it is important to ensure both a monitoring of growth and a balance in daily energy intake.

According to the different sports, there may be a need to induce a caloric deficit as, for example, in gymnastics sports or where the competition is divided into weight classes. However, this deficit must not be chronic, as it may lead to a decrease in performance and compromise growth and development.

Nutritional needs

Carbohydrates

In all athletes (of any age), the intake of Carbohydrates is crucial for the correct functioning of the muscular system, and this parameter remains equally important in young people, as only with a good intake of this nutrient it is possible to guarantee the replacement of muscular glycogen reserves.
Although there is little reference data, in practical terms, the recommendations for Carbohydrates are for 50% of daily energy intake. And if you want a higher replacement of glycogen, you should choose Carbohydrates with a high glycaemic index.

Protein

It is known that this macronutrient has an enormous association with the increase/development of muscle mass, allowing better adaptations to the training rhythm, as well as the repair of tissues after training.
In addition to this situation, adolescents, because of the maturation phase they are in, have increased protein needs, and once more it is important to guarantee an adequate protein intake to prevent compromising performance and growth.
Regarding recommendations, the values for young athletes are very similar to those indicated for adult athletes, and should be adequate according to the sport practised, being higher in strength sports (1.2 to 1.7 g/kg/day) and slightly lower in endurance sports (1.2 to 1.4 g/kg/day).

Fat

Similar to the nutrients mentioned above, Fats also have a role in the body’s functioning, so their decreased intake and prolonged restriction can have harmful effects on the athlete’s body.
As in a non-athlete’s diet, you should still choose unsaturated fatty acids, due to their various benefits. In this case, it is advised that the consumption of saturated fats does not exceed 10% of the total energetic value.   Above all, just as it is recommended in an adult athlete, the nutritional monitoring of a young athlete is extremely important, both to have a better performance and sports results and to prevent negative consequences in terms of physical and body development.   Nutritionist, Jacinta Mendes 3341N