Sports medicine stats: Changes in kids’ nutritional habits
Dr. David Geier is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Charleston, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. He helps athletes and active people feel and perform their best, regardless of age, injuries and medical history. He has been featured in major media publications and shows over 2,500 times throughout his career.
Our eating habits have changed over the past few decades, and not for the better. Thirty years ago, kids ate just one snack a day. Now it’s trending toward three daily snacks which result in an additional 200 calories a day. Startlingly, one in five school-aged children has up to six snacks a day.
Portion sizes have also exploded. They are now two to five times bigger than they were in years past. In the mid-1970’s the average sugar-sweetened beverage was 13.6 ounces. Today, kids think nothing of drinking 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages at a time.
Overall, we are now eating 31 percent more calories than we were forty years ago, including 56 percent more fats and oils and 14 percent more sugars and sweeteners. The average American now eats fifteen more pounds of sugar a year than in 1970.
Through the stories of a dozen athletes whose injuries and recovery advanced the field (including Joan Benoit, Michael Jordan, Brandi Chastain, and Tommy John), Dr. Geier explains how sports medicine makes sports safer for the pros, amateurs, student-athletes, and weekend warriors alike.
trending toward three daily snacks which result in an additional 200 calories a day. Startlingly, one in five school-aged children has up to six snacks a day.