Nutrition for young boys

[Rajesh Bhat]

How should my son plan his "diet"? He's been thinking paleo, but I think that's too rigid and not necessary. What would you recommend?

[Daniel Burnham]

You can eat everything in sight at the age of 11 if you are active. If you really want to eat clean stick with whole foods. Don't worry too much about the rest.

[Sean Murphey]

Avoid the Junk food (processed crap and sweets) and do 24-36 hour fasts on a regular (weekly) basis.

[Ryan Libke]

I am working on trying to get my son to eat anything that is not colored white or off-white.  If he ate some vegetables I would be happy.  Despite his terrible diet, he is healthy and growing steadily.  He is on a pace to be taller than me by age 12 or 13.  

[Doug Grainger]

Not being neurotic about what foods to eat & when to eat them is probably the healthiest thing he can do.   Have something green with more meals than not.   keep fruit and vegetables around to snack on.

 

Encourage him to be the cook for one night a  week and he gets to choose and prepare the meal.

[Dylan Robertson]

Same as any other complete nutrition plans.

Lots of Veggies (Preferably juiced)

Fresh Fruits

Complex Carbs (Sweet Potatoes, Brown Rice, 100% Whole Wheat Bread, Quinoa, Oats, etc.)

Lean Proteins (Chicken, Fish, Some Red Meat)

Healthy Fats (Peanuts, Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Avocado, Peanut/Almond/Cashew Butter, Oils, and other nuts).

Stay Hydrated;

Try to drink 1 Gallon of Water throughout the day. Have your Son get a Camelbak for school (it's 750ml a bottle) and have him drink it and refill it durin Passing period. I generally have 4-6 of these during School on top of Ater in the morning and night.

Coconut Water is also really good, and it's actually even more hydrating than water itself, but I recommend sticking with water for the most part, as it's more readily available and cheaper.

Things to Avoid;

Saturated/Trans Fat

Sugar (Cake/Cupcake/Candy/Soda) (Soda HAS to be eliminated) (Obviously we want all of Junk Food to be eliminated, but Soda is probably the #1 Culprit of sugar intake)

Junk Food

Essential Supplements; (Supplements will NOT fix a bad diet, they are there to help it, but they will not replace a bad one)

Protein Powder (Preferably Vegan, Sunwarrior Warrior Vanilla, Ka'Chava Vanilla, Vega One Vanilla)

Omega 3/Krill Oil (Real Dose Super Critical Omega-3 TG or Viva Labs Krill Oil)

Multi-Vitamin (Sunwarrior Vitamens for him, Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men, MusclePharm Armor V)

Optional Supplements;

Creatine (Beast Sports Nutrition Creatine) (3 grams/day, Cycling Creatine is bullshit and 5g a day isn't really needed.)

Vitamin D Supplement

[Daniel Burnham]

Avoid the Junk food (processed crap and sweets) and do 24-36 hour fasts on a regular (weekly) basis.

No way! A child should not fast like that. Seriously bad advice. Please do not comment with something that irresponsible.

Fasting like this is generally done because people think it increases autophagy, which is certainly not needed to be increased in childeren. Also active childeren have different hormone cycles than adults which negate some of the other benefits such as increased growth hormone and better insulin response.

[Dylan Robertson]

No way! A child should not fast like that. Seriously bad advice.

Exactly. Especially that often. If you are an adult then it would be okay to fast 1 time a month for 24 hours, but children should not fast. They are growing and need nutrients.

[Daniel Burnham]

Same as any other complete nutrition plans.

Lots of Veggies (Preferably juiced)

Fresh Fruits

Complex Carbs (Sweet Potatoes, Brown Rice, 100% Whole Wheat Bread, Quinoa, Oats, etc.)

Lean Proteins (Chicken, Fish, Some Red Meat)

Healthy Fats (Peanuts, Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Avocado, Peanut/Almond/Cashew Butter, Oils, and other nuts).

Stay Hydrated;

Try to drink 1 Gallon of Water throughout the day. Have your Son get a Camelbak for school (it's 750ml a bottle) and have him drink it and refill it durin Passing period. I generally have 4-6 of these during School on top of Ater in the morning and night.

Coconut Water is also really good, and it's actually even more hydrating than water itself, but I recommend sticking with water for the most part, as it's more readily available and cheaper.

Things to Avoid;

Saturated/Trans Fat

Sugar (Cake/Cupcake/Candy/Soda) (Soda HAS to be eliminated) (Obviously we want all of Junk Food to be eliminated, but Soda is probably the #1 Culprit of sugar intake)

Junk Food

Essential Supplements; (Supplements will NOT fix a bad diet, they are there to help it, but they will not replace a bad one)

Protein Powder (Preferably Vegan, Sunwarrior Warrior Vanilla, Ka'Chava Vanilla, Vega One Vanilla)

Omega 3/Krill Oil (Real Dose Super Critical Omega-3 TG or Viva Labs Krill Oil)

Multi-Vitamin (Sunwarrior Vitamens for him, Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men, MusclePharm Armor V)

Optional Supplements;

Creatine (Beast Sports Nutrition Creatine) (3 grams/day, Cycling Creatine is bullshit and 5g a day isn't really needed.)

Vitamin D Supplement

While this isn't a bad diet, I think there are more aspects to kids health. Like not being neurotic about food. Vitamins and supplements are not really needed in a wholesome diet. Also childeren do not near very much protein. Their diet should be more carb heavy for supporting growth. I didn't say junk food, but they can handle a decent amount of potatoes, fruit and the like.

[Dylan Robertson]

While this isn't a bad diet, I think there are more aspects to kids health. Like not being neurotic about food. Vitamins and supplements are not really needed in a wholesome diet. Also childeren do not near very much protein. Their diet should be more carb heavy for supporting growth. I didn't say junk food, but they can handle a decent amount of potatoes, fruit and the like.

I didn't say the amount you should eat those in, but those are the sources that you should get those nutrients from. Also, his child is 13, I believe. A moderate amount of protein is needed for a Male Teenager going through puberty. I'd aim for .5-1g of protein/1lb of Bodyweight.

But really, these are general guideline. You don't have to measure everything out. Just eat wholesome healthy foods, eat until you're about 75-80% full, digest and repeat for 3-4 meals a day.

Supplements are just that, supplements. If the child wishes to get an advantage or make up for something that he is lacking, then I recommend taking supplements. A 13 year old kid doesn't have to take any of those supplements if his nutrition is perfect. Supplements are like Insurance for your body.

[Sean Murphey]

No way! A child should not fast like that. Seriously bad advice. Please do not comment with something that irresponsible.

Fasting like this is generally done because people think it increases autophagy, which is certainly not needed to be increased in childeren. Also active childeren have different hormone cycles than adults which negate some of the other benefits such as increased growth hormone and better insulin response.

This isn't a newborn baby we're talking about...

 

Hunger is a vital stressor.

 

There's more harm done constantly force-feeding your kid "healthy" food when he isn't hungry. Than occasionally going without food for a day then gorging when hunger is actually present.

[Rajesh Bhat]

He's 11. A question: is it okay to consume high amounts of naturally sourced saturated fats? Like nuts, butter, coconut, etc.? He likes all of these

[Mats Trane]

I have three kids. Two have moved out one still at home. We basically let them eat everything that was in our kitchen. They turned out fine . If I could redo these years the only thing I would change was to eliminate the foods with "hidden"sugar. 

I think I also would have had dinners with mostly vegetables so the learn to eat these from an early age.

[Dylan Robertson]

Really. Just focus on eliminating sugar and junk food. That's going to be the #1 thing you can do.

[Sean Murphey]

He's 11. A question: is it okay to consume high amounts of naturally sourced saturated fats? Like nuts, butter, coconut, etc.? He likes all of these

Yea nothing wrong with any of these. Go wild. 

[Blairbob]

 I've never heard of a successful training gymnast who fasts at a pubescent/pre-pubescent age.

While some of the best athletes can be be picky light eaters, more often than not ones with weak appetite don't make the grade. Yes, Herschel Walker has said some pretty crazy stuff about his diet but he also MPS and plenty of his teammates have called BS on his nonsense.

Meat, starch, veggies and fruit. Rice and potatoes are fine. If they are fat, well curb the sweets and high caloric foods to some degree besides exercise.



I have never been too satisfied with vegan gymnasts. Some variety of vegetarianism seems to be fine such as lacto- or ovo-. One of my girls at Berkeley who was pretty much a day in/day out pain when she showed up was lacto-ovo and was still built pretty solid for a 12yo and was more than strong enough for L5/6.

General reccomendations for young children athletes is no ergogenic aids such as protein powders, creatine, etc. More than likely you'll have a hard enough time getting them to take them willingly unless you throw it in a smoothie. I do know one family whose father was a Masters CA Olympia Bodybuilder who supplemented his daughters and son's diets with protein smoothies and what not.

Never heard an 11yo needing creatine though. Obviously there are some children who medically have to ingest creatine or carnitine/carnosine because of medicial deficiencies but that's the only time I've ever heard of so young.

[Kolimechkov]

The topic about nutrition for young children is very interesting indeed.

 

Foods with high energy content (bakery products, chocolate, candy, etc.) should be minimized, and those of fruits and vegetables maximized. Having said that, I believe that these fast carbohydrates are great source of immediate energy for children's cells, and therefore kids will benefit when they consume them immediately after physical activity.  

 

 

I am currently doing a big research on the Nutrition and Physical Fitness of Young Gymnasts (in the United Kingdom and Bulgaria), so you might find this interesting. More about it can be found on this page.

 

One is for sure - Children should be stimulated to eat more healthily. It is essential to have an adequate assessment of the energy consumption, as well as the diet of children, in order to guide their proper and harmonious physical development and successful participation in sports activities

Edited June 14, 2015 by kolimechkov@gmail.com

[Rajesh Bhat]

Wow! Thanks!