Young Football Players Are Not Miniature Adults; Do Young Athletes Need Sports Drinks? : A Review of Literature

Abstract

This review aims to highlight the differences in physiological demands between youth versus adult male football players during prolonged intermittent exercise such as substrate utilisation, limited glycogen stores, lower aerobic and anaerobic capacity as well as control of body temperature. Furthermore, we also aim to provide an overview and summarise the limited data available in carbohydrate-electrolytes (CHO-E) supplementation in young football players. During exercise, sweating is the optimal way to maintain body temperature. In order to prevent from dehydrating, water intake is crucial to avoid a deterioration of performance, especially towards the end of football matches. Water is the most common fluid replacer in many young athletes' sports events; however, sports drinks intake has grown exponentially among this population. Many studies in adults had used a football simulation protocol such as the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle-running Test and showed positive effects of sports drinks including delaying fatigue, maintaining sprint and skill performance as well as assisting thermoregulatory processes. When seeking the effectiveness of sports drinks/carbohydrate-electrolyte beverages, the information in youth football is still lacking. Young football players are not ‘miniature adults’ due to variations in physiological/metabolic demands during prolonged intermittent activities in football. In addition, the playing time is less than adults (< 90 min), which may not be a sufficient duration for sports drinks to be effective. Therefore, it can be concluded that young football players may prioritise fluid replacement more than carbohydrate replacement as water might be better than sports drinks.