5 Smart Ways to Keep Your Child Athlete Fueled

By Carmen Staicer - Chief Mom at DietsInReview.com

Any veteran "insert-sport-here" mom can tell you there's one consistency at any game or practice: Junk food.

That should surprise you. It makes no sense to me. As a self-confessed health food aficionado, I really have a hard time understanding the snacks that child athletes are offered after a game. I've seen corn chips, candy bars, fruit snacks, squishy fruit punch pouches, and even sodas distributed to the team; rarely have I seen healthy options.

As a team mom I'm often asked to bring healthier snacks, but the overwhelming concern is that kids just won't eat them. A Sports Moms Study, funded by PepsiCo, found that more than 70 percent of moms have children in competitive sports. The study found that sports moms spend one-third more time and more than twice as much money across their children's extracurricular activities than families without kids in sports.

According to the study, the area where moms most felt that their influence was felt is their athlete's nutrition. As parents, we do our best for our children. We secure them in safety seats, give them a multi-vitamin, make them eat vegetables, and get plenty of sleep. Offering the best choices to fuel them for sports is no less important.