COMMUNICATING WITH ATHLETES



COMMUNICATING WITH ATHLETES

I. What are characteristics of athletes that make them different from rest of population

A. Recreational athlete

B. High school/college

C. Elite

D. Barriers to good nutrition:

II. What the RD can do

A. Know the sport – improves your credibility, facilitates communication, helps determine nutritional needs

B. Listen – their beliefs, attitudes, goals, experiences

C. Build a relationship – trust, non-judgment

D. Respect boundaries of your expertise

E. Help them help themselves (become problem solvers)

F. Treat as individuals (avoid canned approach), assess learning needs

III. Initial assessment

A. Diet history

B. Nutritional needs for maintenance/growth

C. Body composition

D. Nutrition needs for training

E. Nutrition needs for competition

F. Educational needs

G. Special nutritional needs

H. Need to know

i. Training schedule (times per day and what time)

ii. Food prefs and lifestyle factors – who buys/prepares meals, barriers to good intake, budget, special diet practices

iii. Supplementation practices

iv. Weight demands

v. Nutrition demands of competition day

IV. Providing information

A. Practical

B. Numbers plus examples (45 grams of carb = 3 slices of bread)

C. Paraphrase what they say to make sure you understand and to make sure they know you heard them.

D. Have them make goals

V. Readiness to change can be an issue

A. Provide education on advantages of optimal fueling

B. Small steps

C. Find source of resistance

VI. Note that coaches sometimes need education

VII. Time can be an obstacle – short minisessions, longer session on rest day

VIII. Cost – combine class for several teams, grant funding

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

I. Children

a. Assess ht/wt with CDC growth charts

b. Wt increases 2-3 kg/yr, ht 5-6 cm/yr until puberty, then increases dramatically, and nutrition needs increase as well

c. Body composition in kids is complicated

i. Kids have more body water, lower bone-mineral (lower body density) so equations designed for adults overstimate body fat

ii. Chemical composition changes in FFM with puberty affect skinfolds, width measurements

iii. Before puberty, body comp in boys and girls is similar, then at puberty, girls become relatively fatter than boys – this is normal

iv. There are specific equations for underwater weighing and skinfolds for kids (see book, p 255)

v. There are no standards for body composition for children

1. can be useful to monitor changes

2. need to stress this to kids, coaches, parents

d. Nutrition assessment

i. Tend to have a pretty steady diet

ii. School lunch impacts

iii. Can recall foods they’ve eaten, but not amounts

iv. If interviewing a child, so it separately from parent

v. Look for meal patterns

vi. Peer influences

vii. Snacking patterns

viii. It’s hard to assess energy needs in child – variability and decreased efficiency of movement

e. Dietary recommendations

i. Emphasize complex carbs with moderate protein and fat

ii. Use FGP as guide

1. will provide the 2200kcals needed by an active child, but some very active kids may need 500-1000 more kcals

2. note – kids have better hunger/satiety cues than adults

iii. encourage regular meals/snacks

iv. know that family meals may be difficult (practice)

f. Specific needs

i. Fluids

1. kids respond to heat/exercise differently than adults

2. they tolerate temp extremes less efficiently

3. lose less sweat per sweat gland

4. greater heat production in exercise, decreased ability to transfer heat from muscle to skin

5. kids have greater surface area to mass ratio

6. acclimatizing to heat takes longer for kids – intensity and duration of exercise should be limited in forst 4-5 days of exercise, especially in temp extremes

7. Kids are more vulnerable to dehydration, especially in following cases:

a. Eating disorders

b. Congenital heart disease

c. diabetes

d. gastroenteritis

e. fever

f. obesity

g. vomiting

h. renal failure, mental retardation may result in inadequate fluid intake

i. sports with heavy clothing/equipment

j. athletes in sports with weight categories

8. Guidelines

a. Have kids drink cool fluids before, during, after activity, and have them drink on a schedule

b. Rehydrate water weight lost, 20oz per pound

c. Flavored fluids often accepted better than water, but avoid high sugar fluids, studies show grape sports beverage best (sports drinks increase thirst)

ii. Pre-post exercise meals

1. 2-3hr before meal, high complex cho, low-moderate protein, low fat, 1 cup fluid

2. juice or sports drink if kid is too nervous to eat

3. after exercise, replace fluids and carbs

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