Among the many hats I wear, I’m a soccer coach. Last year at this time, our local newspaper ran an article I wrote called, “Sports Snacks: Food for Thought.” With childhood obesity and obesity-related diseases skyrocketing, I thought it made good sense to seriously look at our tradition of feeding our kids the overly-processed, “ginormous” post-game snack.

For some reason, many of our children’s sports events have evolved into a “will play for food” mentality. We often forget the real reward. The sporting event revolves around food and treats rather than the reward of giving your best and getting exercise while playing with peers. This sends a mixed message to our youngsters: play sports (to have fun and stay healthy), but be rewarded with junk food (and undo the positive effect of what you’ve just done). The average child doesn’t even burn enough calories in a game to work off the typical post-game snack.

For years I went along with the “will play for food” mentality, watching the kids inhale doughnuts, cookies, glorified candy bars, “juice” drinks, etc. into their well-exercised bodies, faces flushed with the invigoration of running up & down the playing field. As a seasoned soccer mom and Nutrition Coach, no longer am I willing to stand by and watch.

Someone’s got to help turn the tide. When it was my turn at “snack parent,” I had to fight against my internal desire to please with the latest and greatest junk-food fashions. Many parents were supportive of my healthy snack and followed suit when it was their turn.

One year later, the new season has arrived. My newspaper article is still alive and in circulation. A returning soccer mom asked me for a copy of last year’s newspaper article to share with her son’s new soccer team. I thanked her for spreading the message.

We’re looking forward to our team’s first game this week. Parents voted to keep the traditional post-game snack but to make it healthy. I signed up to bring the snack to the first game. I want to set a good example. I’ve learned from experience that everyone has their own version of “healthy”. The foods I bring will be whole foods – those that most resemble their original state as they come from the earth. They’ll be chock-full of nutrients. And those nutrients will help performance, both on and off the field.

Whatever sport, whatever season, we can each be proactive in taking a serious look at what we’re giving our children to eat, and what kind of example we are showing them.