REDs: The Role of Nutrition in Prevention

 

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport—better known as REDs or RED-S—can be hard to diagnose, but essentially, it happens to athletes when they’re consistently expending more energy than they’re taking in. For both boys and girls, this can take a serious physical toll on their bodies, resulting in decreased performance and an increased risk of illness and injury.

While under-fueling can be intentional, often, REDs happens even when athletes believe that they’re fueling and training appropriately. That means as parents, you should be paying attention to signs and symptoms of REDs, but also actively helping your athlete prevent it.

Here, TrueSport Expert Stephanie Miezin, MS, RD, CSSD, shares how nutrition plays an important role in the prevention of REDs for young athletes, and how caregivers can help athletes make smart nutritional choices. Coaches, parents, and athletes can also find more information in TrueSport’s REDs Guide.

Nutrition is Within Your Control

As a parent or caregiver, you may not be able to control your athlete’s practice schedule, school calendar, or competition schedule. But you can control what they eat when they’re home, and what they bring with them to school and practice for meals and snacks. Because of this, says Miezin, nutrition is a great place to focus your attention to help prevent REDs.

Prioritize Prevention

If your athlete is not having any problem with performance, illness, or injury, it may be tempting to not think about REDs at all. However, the best way to deal with REDs is to prevent it, especially since diagnosis can be difficult. So be proactive and focus on creating smart, sustainable nutrition habits now.