The food and beverages available to and consumed by youth athletes when they participate in organized sports is often unhealthy, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Minnesota.1
Common food in youth sport settings were sweets (eg, candy, ice cream, doughnuts), pizza, hot dogs, ‘‘taco-in-a-bag,'' salty snacks (eg, chips, cheese puffs, nachos), as well as soda pop and sports drinks. Parents acknowledged that the foods were not what they would consider healthy, but, as one said, "It's more of the things they want to eat."
Parents also reported frequent visits to a fast-food restaurant (eg, McDonald's, Dairy Queen) and at event concession stands when their children were playing sports, particularly among players in traveling programs that have multigame tournaments.
The reason, parents consistently reported, were that they were "crunched for time" and "feeling rushed", and that these time pressures interfered with their ability, they said, to plan ahead and pack healthful snacks, reduced the frequency of evening family meals, and increased their perceived need for convenience food. "Unhealthy food choices have become the easy - and in many cases in youth sport settings - the only choice for families," said Toben F. Nelson, ScD, principal investigator of the study, in an e-mail to MomsTEAM.
Most parents reported that unhealthful food is readily available in sports setting, and their children are "just around it, and they want it," even they acknowledged that such a food environment promoted unhealthful nutrition habits. Some also blamed nutrition messages from the mass media for influencing the types of food and beverages kids consume in conjunction with sports (and, as it turns out, with good reason: a 2013 study [1][2] shows that the biggest sports stars, presumably the most healthy people on the planet, promote the most unhealthy food and beverages which target adolescents). They admitted that their own dietary habits and established eating norms also influenced the types of foods and beverages their children consume, suggesting that, because children look up to their coaches and listen when they make suggestions about eating, it makes them important allies in sending positive messages about healthful food and beverages.
According to Nelson, "The food environment in youth sport exposes kids and their families to many unhealthful foods and beverages and few healthful options. Youth who participate in sports spend considerable time in these activities outside of school, and these sport environments are likely to influence their eating behavior." Lead author, Megan Thomas, MPH, RD, adds, "Parents should be concerned about what their children are eating, because good nutrition has benefits beyond weight management and is important for optimizing performance."
The study also brought to light that, despite parent awareness of the poor food and beverage choices that are prevalent in youth sport, few parents attempted to change the situation, though they thought their children would benefit from information being provided in handouts, posted on the team Web site, or presented at a team meeting, not by parents, but by coaches or high school mentors, and suggested that youth in sport might be quite receptive to messages about healthful eating habits that emphasized sports performance.
Most parents questioned the feasibility of providing healthful food and beverages at youth sports venues, particularly in concession stands, citing a number of barriers to change (concern over losing profits by selling healthful food, limited availability of healthful, non-perishable, prepackaged food at stores where concession food is typically bought (e.g. large discount stores such as Sam's Club), although a number of parents offered sugggestions on ways to improve concession stand fare by including more healthful options and rearranging the layout of food and beverages to make more healthful food more prominent and visually appealing.
Despite finding that parents considered youth sport an unhealthy food environment, parents were ambivalent about the food and beverage choices available in youth sports, viewing snacks as an occasional treat, and sometimes rationalizing unhealthful eating because they saw their child as healthy. Nelson didn't find this attitude surprising at all, noting that "many food companies promote the notion that it's okay to eat their food and just exercise it off. In fact, industry guidelines, he says, "promote marketing of unhealthy food in exactly this way."
Parents had difficulty determining whether some food and beverage options were healthful. They also expressed concern about whether making healthful food and beverages more available at youth sport venues, particularly in concession stands, was feasible.
"These findings suggest the importance of helping parents understand the benefits of healthful eating for all children, regardless of their current weight status, and of helping parents feel empowered to create a healthful food environment for their children despite time obstacles," says investigator Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, RD.
Despite the study's findings, researchers believed that youth sport is a promising setting for promoting nutrition. To promote healthful dietary habits among youth sports participants, the researchers recommended:
Researchers recruited a so-called "convenience sample" of 60 parents of youth basketball players in an in-house (e.g. recreational) league or travel program in Bloomington and Minneapolis, and divided them into eight focus groups. The Minneapolis league served primarily African-Americans and families of low to middle socioeconomic status, while the Bloomington league served primarily white families of middle to high socioeconomic status. Approximately two-thirds (64%) in the Minneapolis group and nearly all participants (94%) in Bloomington were mothers. Most (72%) were parents of at least 1 male child. Participants were asked questions about
Source: University of Minnesota
1. Thomas M, Nelson TF, Harwood E, Neumark-Sztainer D. Exploring Parent Perceptions of the Food Environment in Youth Sport. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 2012;44(4):365-371.
2. Bragg MA, Yanamadala S, Roberto CA, Harris JL, Brownell KD. Athlete Endorsements in Food Marketing. Pediatrics 2013;132:1-6. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-0093 (e pub October 7, 2013).
Posted June 29, 2012; revised July 1, 2012 to include additional comments by Toben Nelson; revised October 7, 2013 to include the 2013 study (n. 2)
Links:
[1] https://www.momsteam.com/node/6726
[2] http://www.umn.edu/~hyss
[3] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/healthy-eating-away-from-home/general/healthy-eating-for-the-youth-athlete-away-from-home
[4] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/kids-nutrition-health-survey-finds-most-want-healthier-food
[5] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/grocery-and-convenience-stores-offer-better-nutrition-than-concession-stands
[6] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/sports-nutrition-basics/basic-sports-nutrition-for-children
[7] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/most-fast-food-kids-meals-dont-meet-nutritional-standards-study-says
[8] https://www.momsteam.com/myplate/USDA-myplate-replaces-mypyramid-promote-healthier-eating
[9] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/youth-sports-nutrition-education-parents-are-not-best-messengers