● Nutrition & Hydration

Match-day nutrition for young athletes in Dubai

Whether it's football, rugby, athletics or any other sport, Dubai's heat adds to the demands on young athletes. Here's what to feed them, what to drink and how to help them recover.

The KISH team · Guide · 5 min read · ← Back to The Lab
Match-day nutrition for young athletes in Dubai

Dubai's youth sport runs all year, but most competitive seasons, from football and rugby to athletics and running clubs, fall between October and March. Those are the cooler months, not cool ones. The UAE's National Center of Meteorology puts the average October high at 35 to 37°C, and mornings are often humid.

Children handle heat differently from adults, but the old idea that they handle it worse doesn't hold up. They sweat less than adults and rely more on giving off heat through their skin, which works well in most conditions; only in extreme heat may they be more vulnerable. The American Academy of Pediatrics' position is that healthy children cope with exercise in the heat as well as adults do, as long as they stay hydrated. The main risks it names are poor hydration, overdoing it, too little rest between games on the same day, and kit that traps heat.

Hydration is the one that needs planning, because children tend to drink less than they need when all they have is plain water.

This guide covers what to eat and when, what to drink, and how to recover, whether your child is six and at their first mini-rugby festival or fifteen and playing through a full league season. The principles are the same in every sport.

Before the match: fuel up

The aim is to arrive with enough fuel and nothing sitting heavy in the stomach.

For a morning start, a light breakfast about two hours before works well: porridge with banana, toast with peanut butter, or an egg wrap. In the hours before a match, keep fatty and very high-fibre foods to a minimum; they're slow to digest and more likely to upset the stomach. Stick to foods your child already eats, too. Match day is not the day to try something new.

For an afternoon fixture, lunch is the main meal: rice or pasta, chicken or eggs, and some vegetables. A light snack in the hour before the start, such as a banana, a few dates or a plain cereal bar, tops up their energy without filling them up.

Dates suit this well. They're mostly carbohydrate, they travel well and most children like them. Despite the sweetness, they don't send blood sugar soaring: researchers at UAE University tested five common varieties, and all five were low-glycaemic. Two or three, half an hour or so before the start, make a snack that needs no preparation.

Drinking before the match matters as much as eating. Little and often through the morning or the day works better than a big bottle just before the start, which has no time to be absorbed. The NHS uses urine colour as the guide: pale means they're drinking enough; dark yellow means they need more.

During the match: drink at every break

Half-time, the gap between events, the wait between heats: these are the times to drink. Most youth matches are short enough that food isn't needed during play, but drinks always are.

Water is enough for most matches. The catch is getting children to drink enough of it. In a study of 9- to 12-year-old boys exercising at 35°C, they drank 45% more when their water was flavoured, and when it also had a little sugar and salt added, as a sports drink does, they didn't become dehydrated at all. So if your child won't drink much plain water, a splash of no-added-sugar squash is a simple fix. Have it cold, too: the drinks in that study were chilled, and Sports Dietitians Australia recommends cool fluids for young athletes.

Sports drinks are designed for long, hard exercise. For most matches and training sessions they mostly add sugar, and the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that drinking them often raises children's risk of becoming overweight. They earn their place on long days in the heat, such as a tournament or a full day of heats, or for a child who won't drink enough otherwise.

Coconut water is sold everywhere here, but it's better saved for after the match. In one study it rehydrated adults as well as a sports drink did, but left more of them bloated and with an upset stomach.

At the break on a long day, a few orange slices or a piece of banana can help keep their energy up. For most fixtures, though, the drink is what matters.

Know the signs of heat illness. Headache, dizziness, feeling sick, cramps, unusual tiredness, intense thirst, and pale, clammy skin with heavy sweating can all mean heat exhaustion. Stop them playing, get them somewhere cool, take off extra layers, give them water or a sports drink, and cool their skin with water and fanning. The NHS says they should feel better within 30 minutes.

Confusion or clumsiness, hot skin that isn't sweating, a fit, passing out, or still feeling unwell after 30 minutes of cooling can mean heatstroke, which is an emergency. Call 998 for an ambulance, and keep cooling them with cold water and fanning while you wait. If the venue has a first-aider or medical team, get them straight away too.

After the match: refuel and rehydrate

Something with carbohydrate and protein soon after finishing helps them refuel and recover. Sports Dietitians Australia's advice for young athletes is to spread carbohydrate and protein through the day, especially straight after training. It matters most when there's another game the same day: with only a few hours to recover, eating soon after finishing is how they get their energy back in time.

Options that travel well: a chicken wrap, Greek yoghurt with fruit, a cheese sandwich, or a smoothie or milk in a flask. Pack them in a cool bag, because a car in the Dubai sun is no place for chicken or yoghurt (or, for that matter, football boots).

For rehydration, water plus food works well. Food brings salt, and salt helps the body hold on to the water instead of passing it straight through. In one study, adults who had water with a meal after exercise ended up better hydrated than those who had a sports drink. If your child has sweated heavily, a salty snack such as crackers or pretzels with their water does a similar job.

The short version

  • Eat about two hours before the start: mostly carbohydrate, with some protein, nothing heavy or fatty, and nothing new.
  • Drink steadily through the day, not just at the venue. Pale urine means they're drinking enough.
  • Drink at every break. Water is enough for most matches. Have it cold, and flavour it if they won't drink plain water.
  • Eat carbohydrate and protein soon after finishing, especially when there's another game that day.
  • Headache, dizziness or nausea in the heat means stop and cool down. Confusion, hot dry skin or collapse means call 998.

None of this needs special products. Sports Dietitians Australia's position is that young athletes should get what they need from everyday food rather than supplements.

Sources

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