Okay, that may be a little harsh, but here’s the situation. Imo, my son has a diet that could use a lot of help. My wife and I have been fairly lazy in implementing a good diet (she would disagree…).
Here’s a quick background. My son just turned 15, is a freshman in high school, and has been a top performer in basketball and baseball all his life (notice I didn’t say a top “athlete”). He is 6 ft tall, weighs about 160. For baseball, he plays catcher and shortstop (mostly catcher this year). He’s always been a .400 hitter, makes plays in the field, and his number one asset is his head. He’s one of those kids that has baseball smarts, and steps up in big games.
Now that he’s in high school, he was the starting center on his basketball team, and he’s won the starting catching job on the baseball team and is doing fine.
I’m worried more about his long term potential, especially as it relates to nutrition, strength and conditioning. When playing basketball in the winter, the team ran a lot. And I mean a lot! And he had no problem with that. But I’m concerned that he just doesn’t eat right or condition himself. For example, he can’t do a pullup. No upper body strength, really.
As for his eating habits, he eats hardly anything. He eats A LOT of cereal (honey bunches of oats). He eats it for breakfast and before he goes to bed. For lunch, he eats a peanut butter and chocolate (well, Nutella) sandwich on whole wheat bread, a drink (diet sprite) and a little snack (some chips or something). For dinner, he basically eats either pizza or chicken nuggets. He does drink a lot of 2% milk. He occasionally eats a yogurt or applesauce, but other than that, no fruits or vegetables.
My wife considers ketchup on his chicken nuggets as a vegetable, as well as the little tiny cup of applesauce. She thinks he gets plenty of protein from the cereal, milk and the peanut butter. Obviously he gets plenty of carbs. He vehemently dislikes virtually every other kind of food. When eating dinner, he pretty much gets his own meal, and we eat what my wife makes.
Our doctor has said that as long as he’s growing (and he’s big), he’s fine, and that if he weren’t getting proper nutrition, he wouldn’t be 6 ft tall and so athletic.
Am I right to be concerned? He’s got a ton of potential – I’d just like to see him get close to it.
Thanks!!
goMO
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