Your child’s diet will greatly influence his performance in sports. Sweets, in particular, may negatively affect your child’s performance, hamper his growth and development, and increase his risk for childhood obesity. For optimal growth, development and sports performance, limit sweets in your child’s diet.
Obesity
Eating excess sugar and sweets and lack of physical activity contribute to childhood obesity. This is because sweets add calories to your child’s diet but few essential nutrients. Overweight and obese children generally have more physical limitations in playing sports. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, children ages 2 to 3 generally require between 1,000 and 1,400 calories per day; children ages 4 to 8 usually require 1,200 to 2,000 calories per day; children ages 9 to 13 usually require 1,400 and 2,600 calories per day; and children ages 14 to 18 generally require 1,800 to 3,200 calories per day for weight maintenance. Boys require more calories than girls, and active children require more calories than children who are sedentary. Consuming more calories than necessary, especially empty calories found in sweets, plays a role in weight gain and reduced athletic abilities.
Blood Sugar
Sweets and added sugars have a high glycemic index, or GI. This can negatively affect your child’s sports performance because high GI foods cause a quick spike in blood sugar levels followed by a sudden drop in blood sugar, which causes fatigue and sluggish athletic performance.
Nutrient Deficiencies
If your child consumes too many sweets, he may lack other essential nutrients, such as protein, vitamins or minerals necessary for optimal athletic performance. Lack of dietary protein can negatively impact your child’s muscle development, and certain vitamin or mineral deficiencies, such as iron-deficiency anemia, can cause dizziness and fatigue. These deficiencies negatively impact athletic performance.
Recommendations
The Institute of Medicine provides recommendations for your child’s macronutrient dietary composition. Based on these guidelines, children ages 1 to 3 should consume 45 to 65 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates, 30 to 40 percent from fat, and 5 to 20 percent from protein. For children 4 and older, 45 to 65 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates, 25 to 35 percent from fat, and 10 to 30 percent of their daily calories from protein. The U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages children following a 2,000-calorie diet to limit extra calories from solid fat and added sugars to 258 calories or less per day.
