Young, developing athletes need proper nutrition to sustain health and performance. No surprise, right? Yet we see teenagers being one of the highest risk populations to fall short on nutrient needs. Teens aren’t eating enough calories, fruits & vegetables, fiber, calcium, potassium, iron or protein. Seeing those missing nutrients listed out can feel pretty daunting to a parent who is trying to help their child be at their best.

Don’t despair, parents! What follows are ten strategies to try with your teens to help nudge them in the direction of good nutrition. Keep in mind that even small changes, when carried out consistently, can mean big improvements in diet quality.

1. Gauge their interest. Look, I’ve worked with enough teens to know that if there’s no buy-in there’s unlikely to be any change. Probe a bit to see if your child is even interested in learning about nutrition or changing anything about their eating. Try neutral observations like, “You say you’re starving nearly every day after school. Why might that be?” Or hit it from an angle that you know is likely to catch their interest: “Did you know that carbohydrate before practice can actually improve reaction time?” Whatever the response, know that simply getting the conversation started & putting it on their radar is an important step.
2. Agree on a strategy. Hopefully the previous conversation went well & leads to an interest in improving nutrition. Maybe it’s something as simple as eating a piece of fruit every day. Or packing an extra snack to have before afternoon practice. Let your young adult take ownership of what they want to try & agree to support their efforts.
3. Set the environment. OK, so maybe I’m in a dream world & your teen has zero interest in changing their eating. You can still support good nutrition by setting an example & managing the environment.  One analogy used is to think of different foods as puzzle pieces. You must get lots of different puzzle pieces to build a picture & for them to lock together…the same few puzzle pieces over & over won’t build a complete picture! Help your teen put different foods together every day by keeping various “puzzle pieces” available to grab at a moment’s notice. Here are some ideas:

4. Trust your child to eat enough. Portion size depends on appetite & how much activity they’ve done. Most kids are great self-regulators if the food is readily available & they have space to fit in a meal or snack. As we age, our self-regulation can get muddled through schedules, social factors & restriction. Listening to internal hunger cues & body wisdom is an important aspect of determining the “right” amount to eat. Take interest in your athlete’s day of eating. Ask about lunch, appetite/energy throughout the day, etc. Set the stage & encourage making space for eating opportunities throughout the day. Then leave the rest to them.
5. Be open and flexible with eating. Some people have very strong food likes & dislikes. That’s okay…nobody should be forced to eat something they truly don’t like. But as we grow, our preferences grow too. Be open to allowing your child to try foods in new & different ways to find what works best for them. Perhaps this is a good time for you to try something new along with them?
6. Get your athlete involved in planning and preparing meals. This can be hard with busy schedules, but even just one day a week of engaging your child in grocery planning/shopping, choosing a new recipe to try, or assisting you in the kitchen can influence their interest in nutrition!
7. Notice talk about bad practices or competitions. Probe a bit into the nutrition leading up to the session & see if they can identify anything that may have contributed.
8. Make healthy eating a family affair. I’ve spoken with lots of parents who plead with their children to eat healthier, yet are regularly skipping meals or hitting the drive-thru themselves. Commit to eating balanced meals throughout your day too. Get plenty of colorful fruits & vegetables, be prepared with snacks & note your own hunger/satiety to give yourself a sense of what you’re asking your child to do.
9. Don’t restrict! I know it’s tempting to completely eliminate “bad foods.” First of all, there’s really no such thing as good/bad food. There are foods that have different nutrient packages than others. Emphasize the foods we know fuel young bodies: whole grains, legumes & potatoes for energy, lean proteins, fat for satiety, & lots of colorful fruits & veggies. Build most meals & snacks from these food groups, then allow for flexibility in your teen’s eating pattern to help them find their own balance. Talk about how these foods taste, how your child feels when they eat certain foods, how their energy is impacted, etc.
10. Support your athlete’s efforts to make changes. It might be slow, or they might pick an area that differs from what you think should be prioritized. Part of this process is allowing them to find their way with your assistance, not your direction.

If you’d like more information about how to help your young athletes (or you) fuel better, feel free to contact Erin via email and/or her website.