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A Steady Sports Diet Weight fluctuations harmful for the health of student athletes 
The back-to-school wait is up for school-age athletes, but that doesn’t mean their weight should go up or down to compete. The pressures to compete often lead to sharp weight gain for football players or loss for cross-country runners, but parents should watch out to prevent any weight fluctuations from creating possible long-term health implications for their children. Fall sports are a great way to spend time outside before winter strikes or to create lasting social bonds, but weight gain for adolescents, especially those who play offensive and defensive line, can lead to short-term complications like joint problems and loss of agility, or chronic ones like diabetes and heart disease. Whether an athlete or not, obesity is not a healthy condition, says Dr. Douglas McKeag, director of the IU Center for Sports Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. “Overeating in any setting is unhealthy,” Dr. McKeag says. “In an adolescent, it’s doubly harmful because it sets up the body for what it will be like as an adult.” But that’s just what coaches often ask children to do, beefing up to add heft to the team. “Kids think there isn’t anything they can do to hurt their bodies – they don’t think into the future,” Dr. McKeag says. “There’s no easy answer. Parents have to be good counselors and say, ‘This isn’t worth it.’” Conversely, runners often try to shave weight in order to shave precious seconds off their times. But for lean bodies, weight loss means a loss of muscle, not fat, making it harder for the body to kick into that second gear needed to finish the last mile strong. “As an adolescent, you need energy to perform your sport and for growth,” Dr. McKeag says. “If you deny yourself the food intake to lose weight, you don’t supply yourself with the energy to run the sport and you don’t have the energy for growth.” Ultimately, responsibility lies with the parents to ensure that the desire to win doesn’t outweigh the sensitive processes of body growth during youth. “High school sports can be really good for kids but they need to be in moderation,” Dr. McKeag says. “Weight maintenance can be a very good measure."
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