subject: Need A Personal Trainer And Nutrition Expert In Toronto? [print this page] Families, you'll know that quite often, parents were clueless about what to feed their teens and children. Active young people need to eat right, but often aren't given the foods that would best help them. We asked the brilliant Jessica Manning (Personal Trainer Toronto) to guest blog about this topic for us. Here's what she had to say:
Adults are encouraged to think of food as fuel, and this is even more important for growing, active children. Parents and guardians are responsible for ensuring that their children are fueled properly for sporting events, for active recess, even for dance-party slumber parties.
Fueling: Two to three hours before the event, the child should eat a meal that doesnt leave them full, but does leave them satisfied and geared up with nutrition. Performing on a full stomach is not advised and can lead to terrible discomfort, as well as stress on the muscles and digestive system. This meal has to include carbohydrates, and carbohydrates will be the most important feature of meals for young people. Whole grain bread, brown rice, rice cakes, cereal, fruit, whole wheat pasta and oatmeal all make great pre-activity snacks.
A peanut butter and jam (or better yet, apple slices) sandwich on whole wheat bread is perfect for fueling little bodies toward big moves. (Get your children used to the real taste of peanut butter early on processed peanut butters with hydrogenated oils and sugars are not food).
After the game: Once they've finished a big soccer game or something of the like, have something on hand to help the child re-fuel right away. Again, a carbohydrate needs to be present here. Your best bet is a piece of fruit and a small handful of nuts or even dried fruit, a rice cake and a piece of cheese will replenish glycogen stores.
Glycogen is carbohydrate that is stored mainly in the liver and in the muscles, and is used as fuel for exercise. Running out of glycogen leads to hitting a wall, or having to stop. This is, indeed, not what we want for our childrens performance, nor even for our own.
Now, after your child has had their immediate re-fuel meal, you must consider their complete recovery meal. About one to two hours after the intense activity, little Bobby or Ruth is going to need a solid, balanced meal. Again, here, you will need some high quality starch, but you also need to now consider a complete protein and some healthy fat, a little bit more necessarily than for the pre-activity meal, and the immediate re-fueling meal.
A chicken and wild rice soup is a child-friendly meal, and you can always disguise some vegetables in a soup! A stew thats been cooking in your slow cooker during the sporting day, or even a pasta dish, is a great way to get in your protein, complex carbohydrate and some healthy fat in one, easy dish. Just sprinkle on some shaved almonds or pine nuts and youve got a great, tasty meal. Picky child? Try an omelette or scrambled eggs with some chopped tomato and a bit of cheddar cheese.
Remember, feeding our children is not dramatically different from feeding ourselves. But there are a few important things to remember: What children learn about food while growing up, they are more likely to practice as adults.
