Study recommends nutrition coaching for young athletes

Young athletes face an array of nutritional risks that could hamper their performance, recovery from injury, and overall wellness, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Scottish Rite for Children found. However, many don't consult with a dietitian, indicating the need for clinicians to discuss nutritional factors with their patients, particularly after surgery, according to the study published in Nutrients.

"Professional and college athletes know that an optimal, balanced diet is extremely important to their performance and plays a key role in managing inflammation and reducing muscle atrophy following an injury," said study co-author Henry Ellis, M.D., Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Southwestern as well as Medical Director of Clinical Research and Program Director for the Sports Medicine Fellowship at Scottish Rite.

"However, most younger athletes don't have easy access to sports nutritionists who can help them develop proper eating habits, which is essential after surgery. Recognizing this need is the first step to helping young athletes manage nutritional risks for their sport and long-term health."

To assess nutrition-related risk factors among postsurgical youth athletes, researchers developed a custom Sports Nutrition Assessment for Consultation (SNAC) survey, administered to 477 patients ages 8 to 18 at their first postoperative office visit. All respondents had undergone lower-extremity surgery at Scottish Rite for a sports injury.

SNAC is an electronic intake questionnaire with eight "yes or no" questions designed to identify nutritional risks. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (319) answered "yes" to at least one question, with the most common being a desire to better understand nutrition for recovery (41.5%) and regularly skipping at least one meal a day (29.8%).

Other questions related to risks such as food allergies; changes in appetite or weight; pressure to change body composition; dizziness or fatigue during practices or games; and history of stress fractures. "Yes" responses prompted a question asking patients/parents whether they would like a consultation with a sports dietitian.

"Despite the prevalence of nutritional risk factors, 64.3% declined a consultation, primarily because they felt it didn't apply to them," Dr. Ellis said. "This could be due to a number of factors, including a belief that athletes should manage rehabilitation independently or concerns over costs or scheduling. But it suggests there is a real need for clinicians to open a dialogue with young patients and coach proper postoperative nutrition."

SNAC also could help flag young athletes struggling with disordered eating behaviors and alert physicians when patients are putting their recovery at risk. Young athletes deal with a range of nutrition-related issues, from concerns about being overweight or underweight to inconsistent eating habits that can affect their performance, Dr. Ellis said. That makes SNAC a vital tool to help clinicians see how their patients view nutrition and whether they need support in developing a healthier approach to their diets.