Nutrition for Athletes - Coca-Cola

athletes’ medical information
Ways to encourage good nutrition practices
in children
Encourage children to become involved in menu
planning for the family meals, and for special
needs associated with their training and
competition sessions.
Encourage positive messages that good
eating practices, involving good choices of
foods and drinks, are part of the formula for
sporting success and a healthy life.
Plan ahead to have nutrient-rich snacks to
meet energy needs over the day, and the
special needs of fuelling up for sport or
recovering after the session. Some preparation
is needed to have these choices on hand
throughout the day, and before or after sport.
Information related to good practice in these
areas is found in other sections of this booklet.
However, it is worth noting here that there is
enormous pressure on many female athletes to
achieve an unrealistic body mass and body fat
level. This can compromise both short-term
athletic performance and long-term health, with
the real possibility of harm to reproductive and
bone health. Any athlete with menstrual
irregularities should treat this as a possible
warning sign, and seek professional advice.
Female athletes, and indeed any athlete who
develops stress related to eating and their
physique, should seek expert help at an
early stage.
The female athlete
As well as the specific nutritional needs of their
sport, female athletes face some additional
dietary needs and challenges to their male
counterparts:
• Having additional requirements for some
nutrients (e.g., iron)
• Having lower energy requirements due to low
body mass and muscle mass, and perhaps a
lighter training load
• Facing pressure to achieve lower levels of
body fat than seems natural or healthy for
their body
• Greater risk of succumbing to stress related
to body image and food