NUTRITION

THE EDUCATIONAL APPROACH NUTRITION FOR THE SERIOUS

YOUNG ATHLETE – by Jane Griffin BSc RD RNutr

Serious young athletes form a very special group of individuals within the sporting population. In effect they live two lives, one as an elite athlete and the other as a schoolchild or student growing up at home, school or college with their non-sporty peers. This can pose many lifestyle problems for young athletes, one of which revolves around their nutrition not only for normal growth and development but to meet the extra nutritional demands of their sport. The problem is compounded by a certain lack of knowledge of what the athlete’s diet should contain and once that knowledge is gained, knowing how to apply it practically to the every day situation. This article offers guidance for anyone who may have a part to play in this part of a young athlete’s life.

EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES Educating young athletes (and their parents/carers and coaches) about the role nutrition plays in sporting performance can help them to reach their physical potential and train effectively. Though not necessarily an immediate concern for the young athlete, nutrition has an important part to play in ensuring long-term health and hopefully a long career in sport. Coaches and parents should be included in the education process so they can encourage young athletes to pay particular attention to their diet and eating habits and less to the advertising and promotion of dietary supplements. Such products do not compensate for a poor diet. This applies to all athletes but particularly to young athletes who should achieve gains through well-planned training and dietary programmes. However they are often so keen to reach their goals as fast as possible that the persuasive advertising of such products becomes just too tempting

Educational approaches should motivate the young athlete by giving information in a clear and relevant way that is pertinent to their age. The athlete must feel that the information is personal to them and it must also be presented in a strong, persuasive and interesting way with technical terms and scientific jargon kept to a minimum. A study carried out in Turkey in 2005 investigated the response of university students to eight different nutritional messages all aimed at getting students to eat more fruit and vegetables to reduce risk of heart disease, cancer and obesity (1). Positive commands using ‘could’, instructions incorporating ‘should’ and rhetorical questions such as ‘how about’ were considered much more persuasive than ‘eat at least’ or ‘avoid eating less than’.

EDUCATIONAL APPROACH IN RUGBY UNION The England Rugby Academy set up by the Rugby Football Union

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has the central purpose of developing better players. It operates at three levels. Level one is a National Academy for a select group of up to 60 players mainly in age groups under 19 to under 24. Level two includes the network of regional academies each of which serves a discreet geographical area of the country. There are about 300 young athletes aged 15-21 at this level. At level three, regional academies work with players aged 12 to 14. The following is an educational programme developed at one of these academies by the author. The aim is to show the reader how the player’s knowledge is developed over their time in the Academy system. Working with elite level young athletes does present a problem that may not occur with seniors in that young talented athletes may fall by the wayside for many reasons and others may be identified as talented at a much later stage. For these reasons not all players may go through the full educational process and an element of catch-up might be needed with the late.

12-14 age group Educational sessions are kept informal for this age group. The aim is to get across the basic difference in their diet compared to their less active friends. Plenty of discussion time is allowed so that specific questions can be answered, particularly those common to a lot of players. Though the information is very practical, there is still an underlying theoretical base to the subject matter. This is an age group that wants to know ‘why’ not just ‘what and how’. Themes have included: ■ The role of breakfast (introducing the importance of dietary carbohydrates, blood sugar, mood and concentration).

■ Coping with school meals including what is/is not appropriate and how to avoid excessive amounts of fat and fast foods.

■ Balancing up the daily diet using food groups and the Balance of Good Health, (a pictorial representation of the food groups showing the proportions you should aim for to get a balanced diet) to highlight which foods supply which important nutrients.

■ Late night eating, whether it is it alright and if so what to have, particularly after an evening training session.

■ Keeping the body hydrated including the sweat mechanism and the effect of dehydration on physical and mental performance and how to keep a fluid diary until the next session.

■ Role of sports drinks and what to drink generally during the day. Taking care of teeth is also covered.

■ Managing body fat. How to lose excess fat and not performance but only if this has been correctly identified by a coach or trainer.

■ How to increase muscle mass, placing significant emphasis on the role of diet first and then a discussion on the use or otherwise of supplements – with emphasis on the ‘otherwise’. ■ Match preparation, looking particularly at fitting meals around

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