SWIM-EATS

PART TWO

A Guide for Swimmers, Coaches, Parents and Clubs

by Wayne Goldsmith

Parents

Parents play a significant role in the nutrition and lifestyle habits of swimmers (their children).

Parents can have an important impact on their child’s eating choices in many ways:

by setting an example with their own diet

It is well established that children, particularly young children are influenced by their parents behaviours.  This applies to social behaviours, beliefs and lifestyle habits.  Parents who consistently eat high fat, high salt, high sugar, low fibre foods are setting a decidedly unhealthy example for their kids to follow.  (This also applies to smoking and whilst this is not strictly a nutrition issue it is very definitely a health issue).

by Purchasing healthy nutritious food

This is one key area where parents can directly influence the nutrition program of their children.  In most households mum and dad are responsible for selecting and buying the families food each week.  In this regard, mum and dad can be positive role models, or quite easily become a negative influence on the family’s eating habits.  If you don’t buy chocolate biscuits, frozen pizza and sugary breakfast cereals, the kids can’t eat them.  It then becomes a matter of a battle of wills between parents and kids.

The pressures of television advertising and the influence of their friends and peer group may have children demanding non healthy food choices, but in the family home, parents should take the hard option of insisting on high performance nutrition.  (Try not to go grocery shopping when you are hungry.  Research suggests that if you shop when you are hungry you are more likely to make poor food selections – usually of the high fat variety).

by not promising Junk food as rewards for good performances

This is crucial.  Most diets in Western Society fail.  Recent statistics suggest that over 90% of people trying to lose weight do not achieve their goals.  Much of the blame comes from the way we approach “treats” with children.  As a child, everyone has had an Auntie or Uncle or Grandparent say, “You’re such a good boy or good girl, here’s a chocolate”, or “Your school grades are so good, let’s celebrate with pizza and garlic bread”.

From an early age, this “do something good – eat something bad as a reward” mentality develops.  Adults who fail in their efforts to lose weight often do so because they reward any weight loss with junk food, chocolates, cake, etc.  This is an extension of the eating habits learned and reinforced in childhood.  Be wary of products promising quick easy results.  All parents want the best for their children and as a result are vulnerable to advertising and marketing of sports nutrition products in the belief that they are helping their children.

The MID MEET MAIN MEAL - MMMM

Often at two day meets with families travelling away from home, the “MID MEET MAIN MEAL” is the most important eating occasion.  Generally the MID MEET MAIN MEAL is the Saturday evening meal that swimmers and families share after a full day of competition (Day One).  This meal is a time for everyone to unwind and talk about swim times, races and the things that happened on day One and to fuel up for the second day of competition.

There are several options for the “MMMM”.  If dining out, coaches, swimmers and parents need to be aware of the positives and negatives of their eating options and be prepared to exercise control and discipline where unsuitable foods are available.

Typical food choices (Take Aways) available for Mid Meet Main Meals

Dining Option / Food Selection / Positives and Negatives

Be prepared to ask the restaurant for changes and modifications to their printed menu.  For example ask for salads with no dressing (or have the dressing served on the side).  Ask for meals to be cooked with less oil and for dishes to be prepared with little or no salt.  If you must have salad dressing or salt for taste, adding them yourself means you can control your intake of these products.  Get in the habit of asking waiters and waitresses how the food will be cooked BEFORE you order it.  Be confident knowing that as you are paying for the food, you have the right to have input into how it will be prepared, (just beware of temperamental chefs!!!).

When selecting the venue for the “MMMM” do not allow swimmers performances to dictate where and what you will eat.  The “if you do a PB we will all go to a popular hamburger restaurant” promise made by parents to swimmers may achieve short term success but it leads to long term eating lifestyle problems.  Parents – PLEASE – do not reward GREAT SWIMMING with JUNK FOOD.

An alternative to eating out with the team for the “MMMM” is the team dinner or team barbeque that is catered by the families of swimmers and by club management.  The great positive is that the coach and families have a good deal more control over the quantity and quality of food being selected and eaten by the swim team.  The down side is that the parent cooked “MMMM” requires more planning and forethought as foods may need to be transported from home.  This does not present any real problems if travelling relatively short distances to the Meet by car, but is difficult to manage if longer journeys to distant competitions are necessary.

If preparing meals for a team when competing away from home, delegate the responsibility for the various contents of the meal to swimmers’ families, eg John’s dad buys the salads and cuts up the vegetables, Julie’s mum leaves the Meet early to buy fresh seasonal fruit and prepare a fruit platter, etc.