Nutrition is essential for athletes, and it’s a team effort! While the meals an athlete fuels with are like the starting players, snacks are the bench players. The starting players are in charge of carrying the majority of the game. But not even the best of players can go forever. Snacks are in charge of filling the gaps where meals can’t cover, and stepping in when necessary. If you skip snacks, then you leave your ‘bench’ empty. This article will cover all the when’s and what’s behind snacking for athletes.
Why Healthy Snacks Matter for Athletes?
Kids always seem hungry right after meals and it can be frustrating for parents, but the constant hunger and need for more food is actually normal. Because kids have smaller stomachs and higher energy needs, snacks aren’t extra, they are essential! Kids have greater energy needs per pound of body weight than adults. Naturally, this leads them to burn more calories and be hungry more frequently. Offering healthy snacks at appropriate times can make sure kids feel full and even be an opportunity to get proper nutrients in.
When Do Youth Athletes Need Snacks for Performance?
For high school aged kids, it is recommended to have 3 meals a day and 1-2 snacks depending on physical activity. The more physical activity kids do, the more snacks they may require.
A helpful framework for deciding what kind of snack to have and when is the light, moderate, and heavy classification. To start, a light snack is most useful before a workout and best to fuel 30 minutes to an hour before. A light snack is typically carbohydrate based and provides quick energy that does not take too long to digest. For example, athletes may have fruit, a granola bar, cereal, or more for a light snack.
A moderate snack is a more substantial snack kids may want to have between meals. Athletes are often recommended to have two of these a day between meals. For example, between breakfast and lunch and again between lunch and dinner. However, a moderate snack is not the best choice right before a workout, practice, or game. So when necessary, a light snack may be the best option for the afternoon. A moderate snack is more filling because it contains two food groups. A good rule of thumb for this level of snack is to always pick two items to cover two food groups. For example, apples and peanut butter. Apples are mostly carbohydrate and fiber and peanut butter is a source of protein and fat.
Lastly, the biggest snacks are classified as heavy snacks. As the name implies these are the most substantial and are most useful when an athlete has to go a few hours beyond a normal mealtime. This can be common on game days or traveling. A heavy snack may be a sandwich, a smaller portion of leftovers, a wrap, or more. This can ideally still include a mix of macronutrients just like a moderate snack but in a greater quantity.
Example Meal & Snack Schedule
It is important to line up snack ‘weight’ with the timing of snacks so athletes are still hungry for meals. These snack ‘weights’ can be light, moderate, or heavy. As mentioned, athletes usually require two moderate snacks per day. So this may look like a moderate snack between breakfast and lunch, and a moderate or light snack between lunch and dinner depending on what time their practice falls.
A good rule of thumb is to offer a meal or snack every 2-3 hours. Here is an example schedule of when to offer meals and snacks:
- 8am breakfast
- 10-10:30am morning snack (recommended moderate snack)
- 12pm lunch
- 2-3pm afternoon snack (moderate or light based on time before practice/games/races)
- 6pm dinner
- 8-9pm optional evening snack as needed
Sticking to the same meal times/snack times ensures kids will get on a schedule and be hungry at these times.
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What Makes a Good Snack for Athletic Performance?
A ‘healthy snack’ is a subjective term. Most often a healthy snack is a ‘moderate’ level snack which includes a mix of food groups (grains/vegetable/fruit/dairy/protein) and macronutrients (carbs/fats/protein), while also including fiber. So a good rule of thumb here is to choose at least two foods from different groups!
Because full meals often incorporate this mix of food groups and macronutrients, it’s also not out of the question to give a smaller portion of what’s considered a ‘meal.’ This may be especially helpful if in need of a ‘heavy’ snack.
Preparing nutrient dense snacks ahead of time, such as cutting fruits and vegetables and keeping them in the fridge, makes it more feasible to offer these snacks over a prepackaged snack. Prepackaged snacks, such as a bag of chips or cookies, are not inherently bad.
However, these may lack the nutrients and fiber mentioned, while often providing excess sodium and sugars. Therefore they may create nutrient gaps and even lead to hunger soon after snacking.
However, if prepackaged foods simply work best, consider these aspects of a food label:
Less than 3 grams of saturated fat per serving.
0 grams of trans fat.
3 to 5 grams of fiber per serving.
Less than 10 grams of added sugar per serving.
Healthy Snack Examples for School and Sports Schedules
Best Pre-Workout Snacks for Athletes
Light Snack Ideas (send with your athlete for before practice fuel)
- Apple
- Banana
- Orange
- Granola Bar (low fat/fiber)
- Handful of berries
- Small muffin
- Crackers
Best In-between meal snack ideas for athletes
Moderate Snack Ideas are best for midmorning or mid afternoon.
- Yogurt with berries and nuts
- Pretzels and hummus
- Whole wheat toast with nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, etc)
- Veggies (pepper/carrots/celery) and guacamole
- Banana and nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, etc)
- Apple and assorted nuts
- String cheese paired with a fruit or vegetable (grapes, carrots, whatever is available)
- Trailmix style snack (nuts, popcorn, raisins, pretzels)
- Celery and nut butter
- Pistachios paired with fruits
- Half a bagel with cream cheese
- Cottage cheese with fruit mixed in (peaches, berries, etc.)
- Whole wheat toast with avocado
- Apple sauce pouch and cheese stick
- Rice cakes with nut butter
- Popcorn with fruit
Best Snack Ideas for Sustainable Energy
Heavy Snack Ideas (Have during a stretch with longer than 3-4 hours between meals)
- Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich
- Small portion of leftover meals (ex. Casserole, pasta, etc.)
- Panini Cheese, salami, and crackers
- Toast with avocado and egg
- Turkey / cheese rollup and veggies
Use Snacking To Add Variety
It’s no secret kids and young adults often reach for the same snacks over and over again. While there is comfort in this, it won’t always provide the mix of macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and food groups that are essential for athletes. This is because there is no ‘perfect snack’ that gets everything they need. Therefore, the best way to snack is by including a variety of foods.
To increase the variety of snacks and meals it is important to switch it up each day or each week. For example, if there are multiple snacks in the house that provide a mix or macronutrients, choose a different one each day. If not, then buying different snacks each week at the grocery may be a way to still encourage diversity in the long run.
If kids enjoy a crunchy and salty snack, such as chips or crackers, start introducing these:
- Lightly salted nuts such as sunflower seeds, walnuts, pistachios
- Whole grain crackers (ex. Triscuit or Wheat Thins)
- Sliced apple with nut butter
- Cheese stick Celery with nut butter
- Lightly salted popcorn
If kids enjoy a sweet snack, such as baked goods or candy, start introducing these:
- Canned fruit (find brands with little/no added sugar)
- Bananas, grapes, strawberries, etc.
- Apple with caramel sauce
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Raisins
- Greek yogurt with fruit and dark chocolate mix ins
Final Thoughts for Parents and Athletes
Ultimately, snacks are part of a healthy diet. This is especially true while kids are growing and physically active. Healthy and nutrient rich snacks can benefit them the most by providing a mix of the macronutrients, food groups, as well as fiber.
It is important to teach kids the benefit of healthy foods while young, down to the small details such as snacks. This way they can grow up eating all their nutrients by ‘default.’ Enforcing this does not have to be perfect every time. Every family gets busy and may need to simply grab a snack size bag of chips and call it a day from time to time. At the end of the day, this is still better than letting your athlete go hungry. However, by planning ahead and considering these principles we can support athletic performance and overall wellbeing.
Guest post written by Haley Haines, The Ohio State University
References / links to include for more info: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/healthy-snacksfor-kids? https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/h ealthy-snacks-for-kids-and-teens? https://www.mitrecsports.com/nutrition/snacking-for-an-athlete/ https://www.eatright.org/food/planning/meals-and-snacks/when-should-my-kids-s nack https://health.clevelandclinic.org/healthy-snacks-for-