I very much enjoyed and could relate to Perspective editor Louise Kiernan’s humorous piece regarding post-soccer game snacks and drinks (“On this field, snack is king; For soccer kids, the game is just a prelude,” Perspective, Oct. 8). Unfortunately what may appear to a person uninitiated in youth sports as absurd is, in fact, a sad reality.
Despite the fact that our local soccer league encourages parents to provide healthful snacks, the 5- to 8-year-olds are regularly, regardless of game time, handed Pringles, Oreos, fruit snacks, candy bars and even cans of soda. I’ve seen kids eating, at 9 in the morning, bags of potato chips washed down with sugary fruit drinks.
Who is to blame for this? Clearly not the children, as one should not be surprised that they rarely turn back the tempting treats.
The blame lies with the parents, many of whom have jumped on the junk-food bandwagon.
Contrary to what Kiernan jests, the offering of a healthful snack does not result in raised eyebrows and peer group humiliation. On several occasions I have given the exhausted young athletes prepackaged sliced apples, cheese sticks and juice boxes. Once I even broke ranks and brought old-fashioned, hard granola bars.
Guess what happened? The kids ate the snack, and several parents thanked me for not bringing junk. My kids still have friends, and I have not been run out of town.
My advice for parents would be to repeat my mantra: If you provide any kind of snack, a child will eat it. Choose wisely.
