Gender and Age

Although this book focuses on the nutrition recommendations that will help athletes achieve at their conditioned best, there are extra considerations for female athletes and subgroups within the athlete population. Female athletes have a unique set of stressors that should be considered to sustain health and optimize performance. The female athlete triad (eating disorder, menstrual dysfunction, and low bone density) should be addressed with a series of strategies that, as much as possible, prevents its development. Child athletes and older athletes are on opposite ends of the developmental scale, a fact that alters nutrition requirements and risks. Children have fewer sweat glands that produce less sweat per gland than adults; children are also susceptible to voluntary dehydration.¹ These factors place them at increased risk of overheating unless established programs are in place where children are involved in sporting activities. Heat illness, impaired growth and development, menstrual dysfunction, eating disorders, and higher injury risk are all potential outcomes of inadequate nutrient and energy intakes in athletes.² Older athletes have a different set of concerns, particularly as they relate to increased heat-stress risk, normal changes in body composition, and the rate of recovery from strenuous athletic endeavors.

The Female Athlete

The Young Athlete

The Older Athlete