In our 9th blog interview, we had the great honor to talk to José Luis Perza Castillo, the Nutritionist for the U19 and U17 National Teams of the Swiss Football Association. He is also the former Nutritionist at Real Betis Balompié Academy, the First Women's Team, and the First Men's Futsal Team. Additionally, José serves as an Assistant Lecturer in the Master's Degree in Nutrition in Physical Activity and Sports at UOC, and as a Guest Lecturer in the Expert Course in Sports Nutrition.
José Luis Perza Castillo
Regarding young people and children, the latest European research shows that around 35 percent of children aged 8 to 9 have issues with obesity, with boys having a bigger problem than girls. Is the Mediterranean diet a potential solution for this issue? What would be an optimal Mediterranean diet for young athletes?
Probably it is. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) can be a good solution to this problem. MD is related to multiple health benefits and has been shown to be effective in the treatment of various pathologies including obesity. Several studies focused on the relationship between MD and the health status of children/adolescents (athletes or not) have shown an inverse association between follow-up of MD and overweight/obesity appearance, even in other markers of body composition such as Fat Mass or Body Perimeters. For a better idea of this, I made a brief list of some studies from different parts of the world that have obtained the results described above:
MD is characterized by a high consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts, cereals, whole grains and olive oil, as well as a moderate weekly consumption of legumes, fish and lean meats. The intake of sweets, red meat and dairy products is low. The choice of these food groups ensures that MD provides a rich intake of monounsaturated fat, a high amount of fiber, a balanced ratio of ω6/ω3 along with an excellent contribution of practically all vitamins and minerals, as well as the inclusion of many antioxidant components. D’Innocenzo, S.; Biagi, C.; Lanari, M. Obesity and the Mediterranean Diet: A Review of Evidence of the Role and Sustainability of the Mediterranean Diet. Nutrients 2019, 11, 1306
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At what age should young athletes start taking care of their nutrition? As parents bear the most responsibility for a young athlete’s diet, how should a nutrition education session for parents and young athletes, organized by sports clubs, be structured?
As soon as possible. Promoting good eating habits at an early age will help to acquire healthy habits that will be beneficial in the future. In my professional experience, we begin to carry out basic and healthy nutrition workshops in the Soccer 7 category, where the players were 6-7 years old. As we move into a larger category, in addition to refresh basic concepts, we include some more specific information, both related to health and nutrition, as well as sports nutrition. In these nutritional education sessions, we always recommended that at least one of the young athlete’s parents and the coach be present. Basically, the structure of these talks are well differentiated, being able to address topics such as the role of the food for the body, the pillars of sports performance (rest, nutrition and training), the sports food pyramid, or the best food choices if we are going to eat out of home.
What are the nutritional differences between athletes aged 10-14 years and those aged 15-18 years?
Saavedra JM, Prentice AM. Nutrition in school-age children: a rationale for revisiting priorities. Nutr Rev. 2023 Jun 9; 81(7):823-843.
There are differences mainly derived from the increase in body weight due to the gain in fat-free mass and fat mass, and the increase in the size of tissues and organs, a phenomenon that occurs independently of the athlete status of young people.
In relation to this last topic, during childhood there is a significant increase in the volume of the brain and cerebral gray matter. There is also a peak in bone mineral density because of skeletal growth in young athletes.
It’s undoubted that associating the previously mentioned increase in body weight (fat-free mass, fat mass, tissues and organs) with a greater needs for macro and micronutrients as the young athlete grows, is a fact to consider and of vital importance.
At the end of this section, you can find a bibliography that includes the recommended daily amounts of energy, as well as the different macronutrients, vitamins and minerals that a young athlete needs at each stage of growth. These requirements could be increased in young athletes whose weekly physical performance is very high.
It is really important to take into account all these processes and physiological changes to control through diet that any type of energy or nutritional deficit appears, and thus ensure an adequate contribution to the young athlete based on their individual characteristics.
González, O., Expósito H. Nutrition for pre-school, school and adolescent children. Pediatr Integral. 2020; XXIV (2): 98 – 107
Reguant-Closa, A.; Roesch, A.; Lansche, J.; Nemecek, T.; Lohman, T.G.; Meyer, N.L. The Environmental Impact of the Athlete’s Plate Nutrition Education Tool. Nutrients 2020, 12, 2484.
Normally we must adapt the athlete’s plate to the physical activity developed. As a rule, the ‘Ideal Athlete Plate’ is a visual tool that allows nutritional recommendations to be adjusted to the training load, and thus, achieve periodization of training and matches.
In this case, the design of the athlete’s ideal plate presented at the beginning corresponds to that developed by the University of Colorado, but there are numerous models that have been developed by different organizations and other universities. Basically, the idea of this tool is to distribute a main plate between whole grains, lean protein and vegetables, modifying their quantities depending on the type, duration and intensity of the training carried out. Likewise, the amount of healthy fats will change depending on physical activity.
What role do coaches play in reminding athletes about the importance of hydration during training sessions and/or games?
A truly very important role. After all, at these ages, young athletes will mostly follow the recommendations of ‘their coach’. For that reason, we should encourage coaches to remind players about the importance of hydration before, during, and after a training session or match.
I think it is also necessary for the nutritionist to regularly help both young athletes and their parents by taking advantage of any type of resource. For example, using infographics sent by WhatsApp, explaining in practical workshops how to make a homemade isotonic drink, and even attending a match or tournament to put such recommendations into practice.
What is the use of sports supplementation in training and matches for young athletes? The prevalence of the use of sports supplements in young athletes begins to be important around the age of 14-15, driven by the rapid growth in recent years of the market availability of products of many types, prices and flavours. Likewise, the social context and easy access to the Internet have played an important role in accepting that the consumption of sports supplements is a normal fact when it comes to an athlete, regardless of the level of competition. The following figure, from a paper that studied the use of sports supplements in young athletes (15-18 years old), from 4 different countries, and at 18 different levels of competition, reflects the most used supplements:
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You can see that the main sports supplements used in the first instance are protein recovery shakes, carbohydrate preparations, as well as creatine and caffeine.
I can personally confirm that these results found by Jovanov, P. et. al, are very similar to my experience in football academies. Sometimes this consumption occurred due to recommendations from external people (physical trainers, representation agents, doctors…), and in others, unfortunately the least, the players came to me to receive guidelines and prescription from a professional in the field.
In my case, from early ages, I have always first recommended the intake of isotonic drinks during training/matches, giving examples of good commercial brands ready to buy and drink (not Aquarius or similar).
We also recommend alternatives for the post-match, which can range from, for example, tuna, tomato and hard-boiled egg sandwiches for the younger categories or chocolate milk if the energy and nutritional demands are higher.
I believe that supplementation beyond isotonic drinks and recovery (through food or not) should be left for athletes who reach a semi- or professional level.
Jovanov P, Đorđić V, Obradović B, Barak O, Pezo L, Marić A, Sakač M. Prevalence, knowledge and attitudes towards using sports supplements among young athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2019, Jul 4;16(1):27
In this insightful interview, José Luis Perza Castillo sheds light on the potential of the Mediterranean Diet for young athletes and the importance of early nutrition education. His emphasis on coach involvement in promoting hydration and caution with sports supplementation provides valuable guidance for fostering healthy habits in youth sports.
If you want to learn everything about young athletes training and development order your book set “Formula for Success in Sports”!
