Lay Off the Chips: Parents Need to Step Up

Parents cheer from the sidelines while their kids eat chips, skip meals, and grab sugary drinks between practices. All too often everyone shrugs because the kid “seems happy.” That casual attitude toward nutrition is quietly sabotaging youth athletic development. Poor fueling and hydration limit training adaptations, slow recovery, raise injury risk, and will ultimately cost them opportunities when compared to their well fueled teammates or opponents.

Young athletes are moving faster metabolically compared to adults. Adolescents have higher relative energy and nutrient needs to support growth, maturation, and training. Consistent under‑fueling reduces available energy for both daily living and exercise, impairing performance and adaptation. The sports medicine community recognizes that low energy availability in youth can lead to poor bone health, and long‑term consequences that extend beyond sport.

Macronutrients drive both acute performance and chronic gains. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for high‑intensity activity. Inadequate carb intake reduces sprint, high‑power output, and speeds onset of fatigue. Protein supports recovery and growth. Without sufficient protein distributed across the day, strength and muscle gains from training are blunted. Hydration matters too… Even small levels of dehydration impair cognition and physical output, which matters in practice, skill work, as well as games.

Micronutrients and meal timing are often ignored but critical. Iron deficiency, common in adolescent athletes, especially females, reduces aerobic capacity and work tolerance. Vitamin D and calcium support bone health during growth and training.. Deficiencies raise stress‑fracture risk and slow recovery. Meal timing around training sessions governs glycogen availability and recovery. Skipping pre‑practice fuel or post‑practice protein reduces the training signal and slows adaptation.

Parents set the table, literally and culturally. Research on parental influence in youth sport shows parents shape food environments, attitudes toward nutrition, and willingness to follow performance‑oriented guidance. When parents prioritize convenience, appearance, or temporary happiness over structured fueling, kids follow. That short‑term lens can cost long‑term opportunity: scholarships, selection to higher teams, and performance consistency are often won by athletes who pair work ethic with proper nutrition.

The performance gap between a well‑fed athlete and a poorly fed peer is not theoretical. Studies link appropriate energy and nutrient intake with better training responses, fewer injuries, and superior match‑day performance. Conversely, chronic under‑fueling correlates with increased illness, injury, and dropout, outcomes that derail potential more reliably than lack of talent.

Fixes are straightforward but require parental buy‑in and education. Practical steps include ensuring daily carbohydrate intake matches training volume, providing 20–40 g of protein (4-8x daily), monitoring hydration and body signals rather than scale alone, supplementing according to general needs, and treating fueling as part of practice planning rather than optional extras. Simple systems.. Packed, balanced snacks, post‑practice recovery bags, and family rules around sugary drinks can move the needle quickly.

Coaches and programs must also push back on the “happy kid” excuse. Education sessions for parents, routine screening for energy availability and baseline nutrition policies (e.g., team recovery meals after late practices) can transform teams. When teams reward and model predictable fueling behaviors, kids adopt them. When parents fail their responsibility, the athlete pays the price on the scoreboard and in opportunities.

The bottom line: Talent plus effort is great, but not enough. Without consistent, appropriate nutrition, hard work underdelivers. Parents who want their kids to maximize opportunity must accept that “being happy” at the moment is not the strategy… Fueling, hydration, and nutrient sufficiency are. Those are the basics that separate late bloomers who seize chances from gifted kids because they prioritize preparation.

Sources:

- Beard, J., & Tobin, B. (2000). Iron status and exercise. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

- Ivy, J. L. (2004). Regulation of muscle glycogen repletion, muscle protein synthesis and repair following exercise. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine.

- Loucks, A. B., et al. (2011). Energy availability in athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences.

- Morton, R. W., et al. (2018). Protein supplementation and resistance training‑induced gains in muscle mass and strength: meta‑analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine.

- Mountjoy, M., et al. (2018). IOC consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED‑S). British Journal of Sports Medicine.

- Nattiv, A., et al. (2007). Position statement: Female athlete triad. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

- Owens, D. J., et al. (2019). Vitamin D and bone health in athletes. Sports Medicine.

- Sawka, M. N., et al. (2007). Exercise and heat stress: integrated physiological mechanisms. Journal of Applied Physiology.

- Thomas, D. T., Erdman, K. A., & Burke, L. M. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

- Harwood, C., & Knight, C. (2015). Parenting in youth sport: parenting expertise. Psychology of Sport and Exercise.