title: Nutritional considerations for the child athlete.
abstract: While nutritional issues are similar for all athletes irrespective of age, children have several physiological characteristics that distinguish them from adults and require specific nutritional considerations. These age- or maturation-related differences include: a greater need for protein intake, to support growth; a greater need for calcium intake, to support bone accretion; a higher energy cost of activities that include walking and running; lower losses of sodium and chloride in sweat; and a greater thermoregulatory strain at any given level of hypohydration. This review will focus on three areas: (a) a higher metabolic cost of locomotion, its causes, and possible relevance to the calculation of daily energy requirements for young athletes; (b) the effect of carbohydrate (glucose, glucose plus fructose, or glucose plus sucrose) ingestion on children's aerobic performance, substrate utilization, and immune responses; and (c) involuntary dehydration during exercise in hot climate and the means for its prevention.
authors.affiliation: Children's Exercise and Nutrition Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bar-Or
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003681:Dehydration / Q000503:physiopathology; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D013894:Thirst / Q000502:physiology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates