ADOLESCENT NUTRITION

What to expect from a consult:

During your consult Alice will:

• Discuss your nutrition and performance related aims and goals
• Discuss your lifestyle and personal circumstances including school, work, who does the shopping and cooking, if the adolescent is involved in this process
• Discuss in detail your training load, time of day of training, intensity and duration of sessions and variability within game times and schedule. 
• Collect information on your current medical history (including medications, recent blood work, bowel habits including during exercise, energy levels, sleep patterns, menstruation and supplement use)
• If appropriate, discuss growth, weight and weight history
• Complete a thorough assessment of your dietary intake, including habits, likes and dislikes. This will include discussing your intake pre, during and post training and competition. 
• Provide nutrition education and advice to meet your goals, with an emphasis on providing practical and simple suggestions tailored specifically to your needs and goals. This may include providing infographics and recipes. You may be encouraged to try new foods to increase nutrient variety to support growth and performance. 
• For those who require a personalised nutrition meal plan, race day or carb load plan may also be included at an additional cost to the consultation. 

Parents/guardians are recommended to attend some or part of consults with their child if they are responsible for shopping and cooking.

Example Case Study:

Olivia is a 17 year old female who presented with low iron, low energy and the goal to improve performance in rowing. Olivia is in year 12 and is currently rowing 4 days per week on water, 2 erg sessions and 2 gym sessions. Olivia reports being a fussy eater and stated she doesn’t often eat before or at training as some of her friends don’t. Olivia often makes requests for foods at the grocery store and will sometimes cook at home.

In this scenario a topics covered and recommendation would include:

• Education around how to improve iron intake and the importance of adequate energy intake to support needs (resources provided)
• Discussion of Low Energy Availability including causes, signs and symptoms and prevention. 

A follow up session would entail:

• Assessment of current progress, appropriate changes to energy intake as needed 
• Education around the importance of fuelling before training for optimal performance and energy levels. Provided suggestions of the types of foods and how these can be included prior to training after school. 
• Provide lunch box meal and snack ideas to ensure optimal fuelling including recipes 
• Discuss post training recovery meals and snacks with recommendations
• Focus on trying 1-2 new food each week to increase variety of foods consumed.