Yesterday my kid's grandma fed him dinner and, as she always does, she stuffed him full (was rice, meat, noodles, soup). Then right after that I took him to play pickup soccer for about 1.5hrs. To my surprise he was very energetic and assertive in his playing. Have you experienced this with your kid? I had always tried to have him not eat much right before a game, maybe eat something light about an hour before. But now I'm rethinking it. Also, maybe for kids it's different than for adults. Maybe for kids their metabolism is so optimal that the food they eat gets turned into energy quickly and the cells burn that fuel with high efficiency? Also, maybe it depends on the kind of food? Have you noticed anything in particular with regards to timing of eating?
At younger ages we tried to make sure they had something within two hours of playing. That might literally be in the car on the way to the field. Now they generally don't eat too much in that time frame, but continue to drink a lot.
Thanks. Human bodies are a weird thing. It seems many things go into energy levels during a game, including of course how much sleep one got. But I can't figure out the food effect. Also, I think the time of day affects things. At least for me it seems to matter. I guess all you can do is try best to get good sleep, eat a healthy diet.... and hope for the best.
Yeah, usually a couple hours before - nothing too heavy, but substantial enough. I know for road games the school usually gives them some sort of box lunch for the bus (they usually leave at like 3:30 for a JV 5pm start). It's a sandwich, fruit, chips, water. Post game, my son will eat a ton - Chipotle runs on the way home from games after 9pm are not uncommon.
My 10 yo is starting to shift. Until recently he preferred heavier fare. Now he's wanting lighter food. Bodies change and it's our job to watch and listen.