In response to a recent MomsTeam article [1] reporting on the American Academy of Pediatrics' clinical report on sports and energy drinks, a high school cross-country coach sent us an email suggesting that, in his experience, youth athletes tolerated sports drinks less well than water. We wondered whether he was right. MomsTeam's youth sports hydration expert, Dr. Susan Yeargin, says no: tolerance is a question of liquid volume and workout intensity, not drink composition.
"Although research shows that sports drinks such as Gatorade are a viable means for hydration for youth athletes, there is a huge difference between a 12 year old baseball player who actually "plays" for less than 20 minutes in an 1 1/2 hour game and a youth distance runner. The youth distance runner's digestive system will not accommodate sports drink during a workout ... I can't even begin to tell you the number of athletes that puke due to use of sports drinks pre-workout or during a workout. Just like a youth's bone structure is still developing and doing adult style dynamic jumping can lead to growth plate injuries, etc. ... the use of sports drinks during workouts that contain long periods of elevated heart rate and a pounding of the digestive system ... is a very poor choice. My youth runners use G2 single serving size post-workout as part of their recovery.
It is strictly water pre-workout and during workouts.
I think making the blanket statement that sports drinks are more effective than water in hydrating during youth sport competition is really sending an incorrect message. Even in the more sedentary sports where there is walking or little running at various times during the game, it will still come down to what the individual athlete's body will tolerate. There was no mention of this very important element in their research findings."
"Here are my thoughts:
Thanks, Dr. Susan, for weighing in on this issue!
Links:
[1] https://momsteam.com/node/3462
[2] https://momsteam.com/nutrition/sports-hydration/fluid-guidelines/sports-drinks-best-at-keeping-sports-active-kids-hydrated
[3] https://momsteam.com/sports-drinks-for-sports-energy-drinks-never-says-new-report
[4] https://momsteam.com/sports-drinks/sports-drinks-improve-performance-in-stop-go-high-intensity-sports