pretation of the data with normal growth charts
is confounded by the effects of biological age
(BA): you would expect individuals with the
same chronological age but lower BA to have
lower body weights. The above observations do,
however, suggest that young athletes need
supervision of their diet not only as an aid to per-
formance but, more importantly, for their general
health.
Challenges for future research
1 Longitudinal studies of non-athletic and
athletic children are required to elucidate the
relationship between nutritional intake, growth
and development and intensive training during
childhood and adolescence. It is recommended
that a mixed-longitudinal study design is chosen
so that information can be collected over a
shorter period (Baxter-Jones & Helms 1996).
2 Care is advised in the interpretation of data,
especially when comparing athletic and non-
athletic groups; they must be matched for both
chronological and biological age. When compar-
ing submaximal exercise data from adults and
children, it is essential that the failure of children
to reach a true maximal oxygen uptake be taken
into account.
3 Further work is needed to identify the relation-
ship between the intensity of exercise and appro-
priate dietary intervention. In one of the few
studies that investigated the role of exercise
intensity, Rankinen et al. (1993) established that
micronutrient intake of 12–13-year-old Finnish
ice-hockey players increased with an increase in
training intensity.
4 There is a need to understand more about the
muscle metabolism of children, possibly through
magnetic resonance spectroscopy, thereby allow-
ing us to understand more fully whether dietary
deficiencies impinge upon the functioning of the
cellular functioning of the muscle.
5 Optimization of pre- and postcompetition diet
is an area that warrants further investigation in
the child athlete.
6 Sport specificity (contact vs. non-contact,
strength/power vs. endurance) and the level of
competition that the child undertakes may well
determine the level of protein requirement.
Further research is needed in this area.
7 The results for dietary intake are usually com-
pared with RDA, but the validity of the current
age-related RDAs is questioned. Further work is
necessary to find out if these standards, devel-
oped for the average child, are relevant for the
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