To preface: my youngest is hypoglycemic. My eldest of which im about to refer to gets periods of tummy ache and light headedness which can also be symptoms of mild hypoglycemia. Hes also diary intolerant so symptoms can be confused.

So, to the main subject. My 8yo is not a big eater. He is however pretty atheltic, swimming for British Academy, races his bikes with me, and plays rugby. He doesnt eat fruit, although we encourage an apple down him twice a day if we can.

Hes complained of being light headed and this now seems to be specifically after exercise and/or at the end of the day. Today hes has an hour of Swimming intervals (butterfly), and hour and a half break and straight into rugby. Bit tough today as they had thier first ever full contact match. Anyway, he played two matches of 20min each and has complained of lightheadedness. Post match pasta and a still lucozade sport seems to have helped.

This does point to low blood sugar, so other than getting him to eat healthy carbs and sugars before and between events, could – or should – he be sipping on something like SIS during sports to help?

Thoughts on this?

I’m no parent or sports scientist but at 8yo it sounds like he could be doing with a break.

When you’re a kid, your endurance is much worse than as a grown up. I found at least that I lived and exercised on sugar alone. Even 16 I’d ride like hell for an hour then bonk severely.

But then I ate plenty anyway. It does sound like he’s not eating enough but I’m not a doctor.

Wow.
To me. it points to a parent trying desperately to make up for his own shortcomings.

sorry if this sounds harsh. I’m only thinking of the wee guy here.

You can’t honestly think a bowl of pasta, sports drink and a game of rugby is good recovery after a morning of “intervals”?

I’d be asking a coach at the british academy swimming thing – assuming it’s as high-level as it sounds

WHat do you mean when you say your youngest is hypoglycaemic ?

Probably not eating enough for the amount of sporting activity he seems to do ..maybe scale things down just a tad ?

To me. it points to a parent trying desperately to make up for his own shortcomings

Im not a monster. He does these because he chooses to.

I’d be asking a coach at the british academy swimming thing – assuming it’s as high-level as it sounds

It is yes, and good idea.

What do you mean when you say your youngest is hypoglycaemic ?

I mean his sister, our youngest child is diagnosed hypoglycaemic.

Have a look at ingredients of sports drinks and then decide

His symptoms are telling you something – overdoing things?

what’s her actual diagnosis ? diabetic ?
hypoglycaemia’s more a symptom than a diagnosis

what’s her actual diagnosis

Unknown. Shes under the care of GOSH who havent found the cause yet.

I’m not calling you a monster. read the rest of my reply above.

Fwiw he had a good breakfast before, and peant butter sandwhiches and a cereal bar between the rugby and swimming.

I should add that this level of activity is not unusual, hes been at it since 4yo.

Back to the op, please.

Your 8-year-old may be choosing to do all this, but mine also makes choices which are not necessarily the best ones based on what he fancies doing. It’s my job to moderate them.

That’s a lot of intensity for someone who may not have the ability to store energy in the same way as you or I.

Back to the op, please.

I think your OP led everyone to think he’d not eaten anything between sessions. 🙂

You would have thought peanut butter sarnies would provide decent energy release though. If it happens again, I would want GP advice given his sister’s condition.

A cereal bar between a high intensity swimming set, and a rugby match is not enough food, irrespective of age.

A cereal bar between a high intensity swimming set,

Maybe read my post again.

Still obviously not enough.

I’m also of the opinion (as the parent of an 8 year old boy) that that’s too much for one day even if he does want to do it. My lad is knackered after that kind of swim set and he’s pretty fit. Football has to wait till the Sunday for him.

If the swimming is done at that a high level then haven’t those sessions been designed to maximise the benifit for those taking them? It’s not like it’s an hours mucking about in the pool with his mates. What do the coaches there make of the other activities? Esecially following straight on from their own sessions, won’t they be pissed that the work they are putting in is being undermined?

How is overall hydration.

How about water instead of drinks with lots of shit in then ?

How about water instead of drinks with lots of shit in then

… is the current situation.

Sounds like he’s doing too much without enough fuel.

And if he’s swimming at such a high level should he be doing hard swim training and then doing other sports ? I know when my 7 yr old has been to athletics club he would be stupid to do anything else even if he wanted to.

If I don’t keep my energy levels up a I slump big time to the point of loosing ability to think straight and do any movement. Sugar turns me around almost instantly, but it’s not the solution, being organised and having enough decent fuel is the answer.

In my teens I skied to international level and I lost many races because I wasn’t fuelled correctly (my parents didn’t notice it). In my 20’s and 30’s I used gems/powders etc to try and over come it. They left me feeling shit, stomach ache etc. Now I’m older and wiser I eat properly before and after exercise, never touch powder carbs etc.

Be honest with. Tell him his performance is compromised from not eating properly, and if he wants to do well then he needs to eat better.

Top athletes are not made on eating gels and powdered drinks !

Hes complained of being light headed

I feel lightheaded just reading about it. That’s a commendable volume of exercise, but the way you described the day suggests simply not enough fuel in the tank.

My personal view is that gels and all this SIS stuff isn’t really the answer. Cake is good, pies are nice, your kids will eat the things they like (as do mine) rather than the things they ‘should’. PBJ goes down well here, but how much food is ‘sandwiches’ – two triangles, or half a loaf?

He does these because he chooses to.

He’s 8, he is not able to “choose” or make an informed decision. You are the parent, you need to choose the right things for him.
Swimming intervals at 8 seems bonkers to me, completely bonkers.

Gatorade (“sports drink”) is a hot topic in Canada right now as far as it’s apparent over use in kids sports.
I’d start with feeding him above reaching for drink supplements. If our kids have missed their typical fruit or vegetable intake we’ll make it as a smoothie probably with flax, hemp a low dose of vega protein.. they are still pretty useless at drinking fluids and will call hunger before thirst.
My 5/7 to kids might do a day a month with that level of sports intensity but a normal program is one activity every other day [their daily hour on the bikes doesn’t count;) ]. You must be exhausted too getting him to all these things.
Good luck solving it.

Swimming intervals at 8 seems bonkers to me, completely bonkers.

I’d say full contact rugby is more bonkers given risk of injury…

OP – I think you can’t see the wood for the trees. Have some genuine, honest reflection on the situation.

It seems quite obvious to the objective outsiders what the issue might be.

Today hes has an hour of Swimming intervals (butterfly), and hour and a half break and straight into rugby.

If you or I do an interval session that is worth doing what would we do later that day? We’d rest.

I’d say full contact rugby is more bonkers given risk of injury.

Nice trolling.

You are pushing your child too much.

Yeah, its all my fault.

An 8yr old ‘sipping’ energy drinks will have no teeth left if they’re doing it regularly.

I’m pretty sure there are some convincing links being found between high sugar diets and lots of health problems, not just obesity.

Assuming that he can’t eat dairy rather than being unable to keep a record of daily events then I’d say you definitely need some specialist dietary advice.

Yeah, its all my fault.

Keep your head buried in the sand then.

Kids do try and do a lot and it can take some moderation. But by the same token my kids have days that can seem a bit ott to me. But they are big eaters, so there’s no lack of calories going in. There was a period when my eldest wasn’t eating enough so then he was suffering with low energy and struggled with sports after school. Got the food intake sorted now, and also reined in some of the multi-sport days too.

So if you can, try and increase all the portion sizes, increase the snacks and maybe frequency of snacks on the ott days. But do it all through proper food. No need for SIS or anything like that.

An 8yr old ‘sipping’ energy drinks will have no teeth left if they’re doing it regularly.

Not necessarily. We’re not talking about a can of Monster.

TBH though, and I’m not accusing you of ‘pushing’ the kid in the least – but maybe he is going for too much. I wouldn’t do two sessions in a day and I never have in the past either. I’d be worried he’d burn himself out through his own enthusiams (not yours). But I understand if he wants to. Maybe worth a talk though. I used to do a club every night until age of about 10 when I thought ‘sod this’ and gave the lot up and started enjoying my free time.

In the talk, you should put your foot down and tell him to stop wasting his time swimming, it’s shit. A sport with no redeeming features once you can do it well enough to facilitate other more interesting watersports. Rugby I approve of though 😉

Oh and for the thread – sugar is bad for you, but maltodextrin is not sugar. It’s a complex carb.

And if you are doing lots of exercise, then complex carbs are good fuel. They aren’t shit. They aren’t a substitue for nutritious food though, but they are a good way of getting in EXTRA calories you might need after eating enough nutrition.

This ^^ of course of is what i was referring to when I used SIS as an example. I wasnt entirely clear in my op but what i was referring to was adding this to his water bottle.

Fwiw, its just a coincidence that Sundays Swim & Rugby coincide. His other Swim session is earlier in the week of course. To exclude one of the sessions is to exclude home from that sport.

Echoing Yak’s useful para we’ve sat down and had a chat – with him included – using my fuelling knowlege also about how we’d better provide more natural healthy foodstuffs for him at that time.

Ill be learning more about nutrition & sports myself next week so this is timely.

This applies to everyone – don’t waste your money on SIS. It tastes awful. Buy a 3kg bag of plain maltodextrin for £15 from Amazon, it’ll last forever. Flavour it with Robinson’s and it’ll taste much better too.

Food aside, one thing I hope you do as a result of this thread is ensure his coaches in all sports are aware of the other sports training sessions and matches/races. Then they can at least take it into account when they’re planning sessions for him.

I’d say full contact rugby is more bonkers given risk of injury..

If you think that is trolling why not find out what the risk of injury is, have a look at the peer reviewed research in this area and then make your mind up:

Sorry, but I agree on the trolling for the rugby.

The risk of injury is there, much as in football, basketball, cycling…. but it is BAD TECHNIQUE that causes the majority of injuries. Get taught the correct technique for a given situation, in any sport, and the risk of injury is reduced.
Heads injuries (which is what the rugby tackle ban is all about) is no laughing matter, but with CORRECT coaching the risk is highly reduced.

To to OP, I do think that is a lot of sport on Sundays, especially if he has an hour of cycling a day as well. Bodies need time to recover after exercise, that includes refueling and rest. You wouldn’t lift weights everyday if you wanted to get more bulk/more strength as its counter productive, this is no different.