| Good nutritional practices are important for exercise performance
and health during all ages. Athletes and especially growing children
engaged in heavy training have higher energy and nutrient requirements
compared to their non-active counterparts. Scientific understanding
of sports nutrition for the young athlete is lacking behind the growing
number of young athletes engaged in sports. Most of the sports nutrition
recommendations given to athletic children and adolescents are based
on adult findings due to the deficiency in age specific information
in young athletes. Therefore, this review reflects on child specific
sports nutrition, particularly on carbohydrate intake and metabolism
that distinguishes the child athlete from the adult athlete. Children
are characterised to be in an insulin resistance stage during certain
periods of maturation, have different glycolytic/metabolic responses
during exercise, have a tendency for higher fat oxidation during exercise
and show different heat dissipation mechanisms compared to adults.
These features point out that young athletes may need different nutritional
advice on carbohydrate for exercise to those from adult athletes.
Sport drinks for example may need to be adapted to children specific
needs. However, more research in this area is warranted to clarify
sports nutrition needs of the young athlete to provide better and
healthy nutritional guidance to young athletes.
KEY
WORDS: Exercise, diet, nutrients, children, sport drinks.
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