Healthy Snacks

Your kids have been racing up and down the court for hours.  They're tired, they're thirsty and pretty soon they're going to be downright cranky on you. 

What do you give them to boost their energy level and keep their mind and bodies in the game?  Too many youth athletes don't realize just how important it is to eat a healthy and a balanced diet in order to stay healthy as well as to optimize their performance on the field.

Provide a variety of healthy snacks that are nutritionally dense in order to both please your youngsters palates and fuel up their bodies in an optimal manner.  Here are some suggestions to replace those doughnuts and ice cream bars at half time.

Go for the crunch!  Everyone enjoys something crunchy in their mouth and it doesn't have to be greasy chips.  Here are some suggestions for crunchy and healthful snacks to give your youth athletes:

• Apples
• Baby carrots
• Celery sticks
• Cereal bars
• Granola bars
• Trail mix
• Pretzels
• Air popped pop corn
• Baked chips
• Rice crackers

If your youth would prefer something a bit more smooth or creamy, you can always give them applesauce cups, cheese sticks or cubes, pudding cups, peanut butter (high in protein) or bananas.

Some kids go for the chewy, so offer them raisins, bagels, rice krispie treats (a HUGE favorite) or chewy granola bars.

Food is fuel, and just as your high performance vehicle will sputter and die out when you need it most, so too will your star players stumble and lose steam at a critical moment in the game.  Make a plan to have healthy, high energy snacks for your youth athletes and you'll see a big difference in their performance.