When a child starts to become more and more serious about athletics, it is necessary to ensure they are going about it in a healthy manner. As a parent, there are certain routines to keep up in order to maintain your child’s health. These five tips to keep your child athlete healthy are a great place to start.
Keep Your Child Athlete Healthy
While each of these tips exists alone, they are all the most useful when implemented together. You may even find that it structures a whole new routine for you and your child. At South Shore Orthopedics, we are here to resolve pain and discomfort from your child’s athletic injuries. However, these tips can prevent those injuries from the beginning. Keep your child athlete healthy in a few easy ways.
Make Sure They Stay Hydrated
Hydration is one of the most important elements of your child athlete’s routine, especially when it comes to you trying to keep your child athlete healthy. When your child is dehydrated, their body is more prone to injury and overheating. The amount of water required for your child depends on their size and even taking into consideration their sport’s setting.
Prioritize Healthy Meals
For your child to perform at their optimal ability, their body must be fueled with the necessary nutrients. Kid’s Health discusses the importance of a child athlete needing vitamins and minerals, protein, and carbohydrates. Each of these gives a child athlete different necessities for play. The amount of each can vary depending on the level of activity on a given day. Something such as a tournament will require more than practice as there is a longer period of time they are engaging in the sport.
They Take The Time To Warm Up
An easy way to keep your child athlete healthy is to make sure they warm up their bodies. Once your child is at their location, they have to take the time to properly warm up their bodies. In a structured program, the team will probably warm up together. However, your child can take the time to do personal warm-ups as well for the parts of the body that they know are sorer than others on a given day.
Provide The Proper Equipment
If your child is playing a sport that requires specific gear, make sure it is the correct one and that it fits them correctly. Safe Kids Worldwide states that one of the important safety concerns for child athletes is ensuring they have appropriate and properly-fitting sports gear to prevent or reduce the severity of injuries. This would be dependent on the sport. If your child is playing football, all of the pads should fit properly and provide the necessary protection. On the other hand, a sport like soccer has less necessary equipment such as shin guards, but these are still essential for safely competing.
Support The Need For Rest
When your child is not playing, they should focus on getting the required rest for their bodies. Keep your child athlete healthy by supporting a fair bedtime and discussing the importance of sleep. You can make it clear how it can benefit them in the long run. Your child’s body cannot get the recovery it needs if they are not taking the time to get enough rest throughout the day. This does not always mean sleep. Sometimes simply not overworking activities throughout the day can provide rest to your child’s body.
Keep your child athlete healthy with these five easy steps. It may seem like a lot to incorporate, but the way these work together makes it simple. Your child’s body will thank you in the long run. You may even be avoiding an eventual visit to an orthopedic surgeon for an injury. Are you looking for even more ways to learn about the possible injuries of a child athlete? South Shore Orthopedics has seen it all and is ready to share resources along with even more information. Check out our website or give us a call at (781) 337-5555.