Coaching baseball and softball includes both on-the-field and off-the-field instruction that educates our youth on different ways to reach their fullest potential. An often forgotten topic that is vital to both health and athletic performance is nutrition. In recognition of National Nutrition Month, we’ll take a closer look at ways we can educate youth on how to seek out the best nutritional options.

Three key nutrition topics for children that first come to mind are variety, moderation and balance:

1) Variety – no single food or supplement contains all of the vitamins and nutrients that our children need. Eating food from each of the five food groups daily is essential.

2) Moderation – Our children should not eat too much or too little of any one food or nutrient.

3) Balance – Calorie intake and energy expenditure should be balanced to maintain healthy weight and body composition.

If you’d like to learn more about teaching our youth proper nutritional habits, please visit our colleagues at WePlay.com