By Josh Weiner
Stakes are up for high school athletes. As success on the field grows ever more urgent, so too does the incentive to turn to nutritional supplements—of which 85,000 varieties now exist on the market. But, as has been noticed lately in the press, as well as in the documentary industry, companies may have gone too far in marketing these products to young competitors.
“Most of their messages are just way over the top,” Lilian de Jonge, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at George Mason University, says. “Whether it’s for performance, whether it’s for weight loss … It’s a very uncontrolled business.”
However, the consensus is that increased marketing of nutritional supplements should come as no surprise given the often fiercely competitive nature of teenage athletics.
“The high school sports industry is really changing,” sports dietitian Rebecca Mohning, owner of Expert Nutrition, says. “It’s a highly competitive environment, and I think that looking for an extra edge in athletics through supplementation is being passed down from professional and college levels to high school athletes.”
“They’re very impressionable,” Nicole Brown, president of the Virginia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says of these athletes. “In the Northern Virginia region in particular, the competition to get into different colleges, potentially using sports as a vehicle, is very key. So I would say that this is a very vulnerable population.”
Taylor Wallace, a nutrition professor at George Mason University, says that dietary supplementation for high school athletes can sometimes be appropriate. For instance, vegetarian athletes may need it to obtain additional sources of vitamins A and B12, as well as other nutrients such as iron, and daily multivitamins can help younger athletes achieve recommended nutrient intakes.
However, he said that many young athletes have been exposed to a lot of misinformation and supplements that have stimulant effects beyond basic nutrition. “Student athletes need better education on healthy supplementation,” he says.
“When you’re in your teens, sometimes it’s hard to make the distinction between what’s helpful and what’s not,” Deborah Jeffery of Fairfax Dietetics agrees. “It’s hard to break through so much of the misinformation out there.”
Overall, most nutritionists discourage high school athletes from consuming nutritional supplements and advise them to consider other options. Christine Haas, president of the Washington Nutrition Group, suggests protein-rich foods such as turkey, egg whites and Greek yogurt and potassium sources like coconut water, dried bananas and tomato juice as more sensible alternatives to nutritional supplements.
“Have a balanced diet, make sure you eat protein right after you exercise, and eat lots of fruits and vegetables,” she advises.
