In 2022-2023, almost 3.5 million girls and just more than 4.5 million boys participated in high school sports. That's a lot of soccer, softball, basketball, and football (including 4,094 girls on 11-player high school tackle football teams, and 42,955 girls playing flag football).

That's wonderful. It means kids are getting physical exercise that helps develop a healthy brain and body.

But it takes the right kind of fuel to get those benefits, and unfortunately a new study in the journal Nutrients reveals that kids are not being taught about the foods they need.

As a result, they don't get enough healthy carbs or total calories, and overdo the fats and proteins. Bottom line: The researchers found that student-athletes have a "poor level of sports nutrition knowledge and understanding of energy and macronutrient requirements."

Help your teens and their teams by making kids aware that student athletes should get half their calories from healthy carbohydrates (whole grains, beans, fruits, and starchy and other veggies).

Athletes also need lean proteins and healthy fats, and want to limit inflammatory ingredients (in fast and highly processed foods) that can make them more vulnerable to injury — and make it harder to recover from one.

In addition, they should eat throughout the day so they have a steady supply of energy-producing nutrients and fuels. Intermittent fasting while in training or during the season isn't the way to go.