Feeding your young athlete is more than just putting food on the table; it is about making healthy decisions at the grocery store, filling your young athletes’ lunchbox with the appropriate food to get them through the day, and helping them make the right choices towards a lifestyle of healthy eating.

Special Olympics Canada recognizes the importance of good nutrition in supporting athletes both on the field of play and in their daily lives. For this reason, Special Olympics Canada has produced a nutrition guide that can give your young athlete the fuel to participate fully in our youth programs, Active Start or FUNdamentals, while developing strong, healthy eating habits for a lifetime of activity.

To accomplish the goal of developing guidelines and support for a healthy lifestyle, Special Olympics Canada has sought out registered dietitians to create a nutrition guide that will equip caregivers with nutrition information and easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, while incorporating fun activities that will allow your young athlete a chance to develop a love for healthy food.

Jennifer Gibson, a registered dietitian, has worked with a number of sport organizations, providing nutritional advice and guidance to athletes from Canada’s women’s soccer team, Canada Snowboarding, and Softball Canada. Whether it’s a “Breakfast Frittata” or “Crunchy Fish Burgers”, Jennifer has drawn on her vast experience, offering resources and recipes that are both simple to make while providing the fuel your young athlete needs. We are pleased to have collaborated with Jennifer on this guide. Sobeys Dietitians also revised this guide in June 2019 to reflect the updates made to Canada’s Food Guide.

We know that fundamental movement skills and physical literacy are crucial components for future involvement in sport, which is why we developed Active Start and FUNdamentals. We also realize the importance of fuelling your young athlete with the optimal nutrition so they can learn and execute the skills required by the programs. We hope that our Young Athletes Nutrition Guide is a useful tool to help keep your young athlete active for life!

Special Olympics Canada Young Athletes Nutrition Guide - Developing Healthy Eating For Life!

The Special Olympics Canada Young Athletes Nutrition Guide is a resource for athletes, coaches, parents, teachers, and caregivers. The guide is to be used to help young athletes build a foundation of healthy eating skills that complement the physical activity skills developed in the Young Athletes Program. Because young athletes can have multiple caregivers throughout the day, everyone involved in their care should use the guide to ensure consistency in daily nutrition.

Young Athletes Nutrition Guide

The Young Athletes Nutrition Guide includes:

• Healthy nutrition guidelines for young athletes with an intellectual disability
• Interactive healthy eating activities for young athletes
• Easy and nutritious recipes
• Nutrition resources and references

Working hand in hand, a healthy diet and physical activity are truly a winning combination!