Eat Like a Champion: Performance Nutrition for Your Young Athlete

by Jill Castle

Kids have their own nutritional needs—especially athletic kids. Yet most young athletes aren't eating properly to compete. Even if they're on a "healthy" diet, it's often supplemented by convenient but empty calories that are actually slowing them down.

Fortunately, with the right nutrition, young athletes can increase their energy, bolster their motivation, gain muscle mass, overcome fatigue, and improve their performance. Eat Like a Champion will help their parents:

• Tailor diets for training, competition, and even off-season • Find the best food options, whether at home or on the go • Address counterproductive or unhealthy eating patterns • Understand where supplements, sports drinks, and performance-enhancing substances do—and don't—fit in • And more

It took a registered dietitian who specializes in child and adolescent nutrition to write a book as focused and informative as this—complete with charts, recipes, and practical meal and snack ideas that can help athletic youngsters eat to win. It's a must-read for every parent of active kids ages eight through eighteen.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Nutrition, Self Help, Parenting, Cookbooks

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2015

About the author

Jill Castle is one of the nation’s premier childhood nutrition experts. Known as a paradigm shifter who blends current research, practical application and common sense, Jill inspires audiences to think differently about feeding kids. From babies to teens, Jill takes a unique, “whole-child” approach to showcase food, feeding and childhood development as the secret ingredients to raising a healthy child.
A sought-after speaker, advisor, and media contributor, Jill has inspired TEDx and a range of nutrition, medical, government and parent audiences. Jill is on the Board of Advisors of Parents Magazine, and is scientific advisor to a handful of privately held child nutrition companies.
She is the author of Eat Like a Champion and co-author of Fearless Feeding. She pens The Nourished Child blog, interviews experts on her podcast of the same name, and regularly contributes to US News & World Report’s For Parents blog. She has appeared in The New York Times, WebMD, Fast Company, USA Today, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Fox and Friends, NBC-CT, and Parents Magazine.

Reviews

[Lauren Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'll share in formation on how and what to eat for optimal athletic performance, showcase the dangers of nutritional imbalances, poor food choices, and improper timing of meals and snacks, and offer insight on how to manage the athlete nutritionally given the challenges that may arise during the childhood and adolescent years. Along the way, I'll try to correct misunderstandings about the relationship of food and eating to optimal athlete performance." (2)

I would like to thank AMACOM for providing me with an advance copy of this book!

This book was chalked full of information on how to feed and fuel your young athlete for success! Every claim was fully backed and written in understandable language. It changed my mindset on how I viewed food!

This book was a quick read, as I read it in about 2 days!

I would recommend this book to anyone with young athletes!

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing too new or surprising, but the author gives clear easily understood explanations with good examples.

[Alicea Rodig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for parents and coaches of athletes

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my 13 year old daughter. It is written to parents but she makes a lot of her own food so she got a lot out of it. We enjoyed the conversations it lead to.

[Amanda Poussard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t even finish reading. Super shamey

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking

My young athlete has developed increasingly challenging pickiness and doesn't seem to understand the correlation between diet and performance (but he's almost ten, so I'm not expecting miracles). This book helped to clarify my own thinking and has helped me develop strategies and find resources to help him understand that he can take control of his diet in healthy ways and not just restrictive ways.

[Carey Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect blend of expert advice and practical suggestions. Love the tables showing options for healthy "fuel" snacks. Having 3 teenage female athletes, this book is exactly what we needed to get the right combination of foods in the day while understanding "why" they work for the body. Many pages are dog-eared!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great resource for helping children eat healthy. It is meant for kids who are active, but I think the principles can be applied generally to all children (and adults). I have found myself making healthier choices in what I eat, and I love having some backup information to pass on to my kids. We are all doing a better job of putting good things into our bodies.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! It is packed full of important information for keeping our young athletes healthy. It also cleared up some myths surrounding childhood nutrition, like carb-loading before an event. It is a must-read for parents of athletes and would be a great coaches gift! I highly recommend this.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd recommend this book to any parent or coach of really physically active kids. Good nutrition is paramount for active growing kids/teens and it isn't always common sense or easy to feed them well amidst busy schedules, junk laden environments, and well-meaning junk food pushers.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is loaded with info - some pretty technical - but enough practical suggestions to make it helpful for parents and coaches.