Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Injuries, whether from sports, accidents, or illnesses, can significantly impact an individual’s physical and mental well-being. Proper nutrition plays a crucial role in facilitating the healing process and ensuring a swift recovery. In addition to focusing on nutrient-dense foods, it’s essential to maintain a balanced diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats. Hydration is also crucial, so ensure you’re drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
Young athletes face a variety of nutritional challenges that can negatively impact their performance, recovery from injuries, and overall health, according to researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center and Scottish Rite for Children. However, many do not seek advice from a dietitian, underscoring the importance of clinicians addressing nutrition with their patients, particularly after surgery, as noted in a study published in Nutrients.
Henry Ellis, M.D., co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Southwestern, as well as Medical Director of Clinical Research and nutrition Program Director for the Sports Medicine Fellowship at Scottish Rite indicated that professional and collegiate athletes understand the critical role of a well-balanced diet in optimizing performance, managing inflammation, and preventing muscle loss after an injury. He further indicated that in contrast, younger athletes often lack easy access to sports nutritionists who could guide them in developing proper dietary habits, which is especially crucial post-surgery and recognizing this gap is the first step toward helping UT address nutritional challenges for both their sport and long-term health.
For the evaluation purposes of nutrition-related risks in young athletes following surgery, researchers created a specialized Sports Nutrition Assessment for Consultation (SNAC) survey, which was given to 477 patients aged 8 to 18 during their first postoperative visit. All participants had undergone lower-extremity surgery at Scottish Rite due to sports injuries.
SNAC is an electronic questionnaire consisting of 8 “yes or no” questions aimed at identifying potential nutritional risks. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents (319) had said “yes” to at least one question. The most common concerns were the desire to better understand nutrition for recovery (41.5 percent) and skipping at least one meal per day (29.8 percent). Other questions addressed issues like food allergies, appetite or weight changes, pressure to alter body composition, dizziness or fatigue during physical activity, and a history of stress fractures. A “yes” response triggered a follow-up question asking whether patients or parents would take into consideration a consultation with a sports dietitian.
“Despite the prevalence of nutritional risk factors, 64.3% declined a consultation, primarily because they felt it didn’t apply to them,” says Dr. Ellis. “This could be due to a number of factors, including a belief that athletes should manage rehabilitation independently or concerns over costs or scheduling. But it suggests there is a real need for clinicians to open a dialogue with young patients and coach proper postoperative nutrition.”
Researchers pointed out that the SNAC tool could also play a role in marking young athletes struggling with disordered eating patterns and alert physicians when recovery might be at risk. Young athletes often face various nutrition-related challenges, such as concerns about being overweight or underweight and irregular eating habits, all of which can impact their performance, explained Dr. Ellis. This makes SNAC an essential resource for clinicians to assess their patients’ perceptions of nutrition and determine if they need guidance in adopting healthier eating habits.
Other contributors to the study consisted of senior author Sophia Ulman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UTSW and Division Director of the Movement Science Laboratory at Scottish Rite; Philip Wilson, M.D., Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UTSW and Director of the Scottish Rite Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine; Taylor Morrison, M.S., RDN, CSSD, LD, former Sports Nutritionist at the Scottish Rite Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine; and Jessica Dabis, P.T., D.P.T., O.C.S., Physical Therapist at the Scottish Rite Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine.
