If you ask most people, they’ll know the recommended number of calories that an adult should be eating each day is 2000 for women and 2500 for men. But how much food a child or teen needs is not quite as clear, especially so for those participating in daily sports and exercise.

We've taken a closer look into calories to better understand how much food is actually needed to fuel a young athlete.

What are calories?

We’ve all heard people talking about calories and how many they should be consuming each day, but what exactly is a calorie? To put it simply, calories are a measure of the amount of energy contained within a food. The higher the calorie content, the more energy it contains. Calories are also a measure of the energy used for movement and other bodily processes.

Therefore, calories can either be consumed or expended. They often get a lot of bad press, as people generally refer to them in the context of counting calories to lose weight. But calories and energy are essential to young athletes for growth and development, health, performance and recovery.

How many calories do young athletes need?

Rapid growth and development during childhood and adolescence requires high energy demands to support this. The exact number of calories a young athlete needs to eat will vary from athlete to athlete, depending on a number of factors such as their gender, age, weight, and activity level.

The key to maintaining good health and ultimately winning performances is getting the balance right ^[1]. This means matching how many calories a youth athlete consumes from their food, compared to how many they expend during sports, as well as those needed for normal functioning and growth of the body. Estimations of recommended calories intakes are listed below.

 Source: SACN (2011) ^[2]

Although these recommendations set a good baseline for how many calories children and teens should be consuming ^[2], the actual requirements may vary depending on sporting schedule, intensity or training load and so how much food a youth athlete needs will vary accordingly.

Eating too much or too little

Balancing calorie intake with calorie expenditure is key to preventing excess or deficits within the diet ^[1]. While consuming more calories than what is burned by the body will lead to weight gain, consuming too few can result in negative consequences to performance and recovery, but more importantly, will have adverse effects on health.

Energy deficits during childhood and adolescence are associated with poor growth and development, delayed puberty, menstrual dysfunction, fatigue, illness and injury.

Which foods are best to eat?

Eating a balanced and varied diet is essential to good health, and young athletes should aim to consume 3 meals and 2 snacks each day to ensure they’re eating enough. These should contain all of the macronutrients needed by the body, as well as being rich in micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals.

Young athletes should centre their diets around a variety of carbohydrate sources to fuel their exercise demands ^[1].

Protein is essential for nearly every process in the body, as well as for muscle building, repair and recovery. Requirements are likely to be slightly higher in youth athletes, compared to less active children of the same age ^[1].

Fat is essential as an energy source for low-intensity activity and movement, as well as for the transport and absorption of many vitamins ^[1]. Preference should be given to unsaturated forms.

NUTRI-TEEN Food Powder Shakes are Informed Sport Certified

Sometimes, achieving a balanced diet may be tricky. When that happens, our NUTRI-TEEN Food Powder may come in handy. Developed specifically for active youths, each shake is packed with nutrients. Youth Sport Nutrition are rated excellent on Trustpilot, parents trust Youth Sport Nutrition for a quality, and great tasting product. Here's our CEO Lou talking about how NUTRI-TEEN Food Powder is helping busy families. You can try today and get a full refund or flavour swap if you are dissatisfied, that's YSNs happiness guarantee. 

Youth Sport Nutrition Services

If you're looking for personalised nutrition advice, consider Youth Sport Nutrition nutrition services. We offer professional consultations with qualified sports nutritionists at below-market rates to help you explore the best solutions.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general information about nutrition for youth athletes and is not meant to replace professional dietary advice or individual nutritional counselling. Every child's nutritional needs can vary due to factors such as age, size, physical activity level, and medical conditions. We strongly recommend consulting with a registered dietitian or a healthcare provider before making changes to your child's diet, such as adding supplements and food powders. YSN and the author of this article do not take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, dietary modification, action, or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this article.

References

1. Purcell, L. (2013) Sport nutrition for young athletes. Paediatrics & Child Health, 18(4), pp. 200-202.
2. SACN (2011) Dietary Reference Values for Energy. [Online]. GOV.UK. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/339317/SACN_Dietary_Reference_Values_for_Energy.pdf. (Accessed: 13 February 2020).

Youth Sport Nutrition developed PRO-TEEN as a convenient way for youths in sport get all the right calories in, when good quality whole foods aren’t available. Made up of a precise mix of vitamins and nutrients, PRO-TEEN provides a wholesome blend of protein, fats, carbs and 16 essential micronutrients to help get all of the right goodness in, at the right time.

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