This is explained by clinical nutritionist Anu Koivisto-Mørk at the Sports Health Centre (Idrettens helsesenter). She has written her PhD thesis at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo on diet and nutrition in sports, with a particular focus on altitude training.
Koivisto-Mørk explains that she meets young athletes in her office who want to do everything for their sport and have high ambitions.
Many of them are football players, which is one of the sports where injury frequency is particularly high.
Some of these athletes misunderstand what it means to eat correctly and are excessively concerned with what is healthy. Some of them actually eat too healthily, she believes.
Organised sport is highly popular among Norwegian youth and forms a vital part of most young people's lives. According to Ungdata.no, 74 per cent have been members of a sports club since starting lower secondary school, and 92 per cent have participated in organised sports since childhood.
Many train actively to achieve high ambitions of a sports career, and football is especially popular.
What does it mean to eat "too healthily"?
According to the nutritionist, it is not uncommon for young athletes to choose foods that contain very little energy relative to their volume. Many are focused on ensuring there is minimal sugar, that the food is low-fat, and that it is "clean food" - meaning as little ultra-processed food as possible, Koivisto-Mørk summarises.
In such cases, there is a risk that the food they eat is very filling, yet their bodies still receive too little energy during a vulnerable phase of development. Context and activity are crucial in determining how much energy we burn in our daily lives. Ambitious young athletes who train heavily and are still growing require a significant amount of extra energy.
Koivisto-Mørk believes that the extra energy found in, for example, desserts, Saturday sweets, and baked goods can be eaten with advantage when training heavily.
She is supported by Håvard Moksnes, a sports physiotherapist at the Sports Health Centre, who is attached to the medical support team for the women's national football team. He also holds a PhD in knee injuries in children.
Losing the sense of hunger
One might assume that young people who train and become very hungry would devour large amounts of food to make up for the energy they use in their sport. And indeed, many do.
NRK sports commentator Andrine Hegerberg has prievious told about how she and her sister ate everything they could get their hands on when they were young football players. They would often eat cinnamon buns (kanelgifler) to ensure they met their energy needs.
However, the vast majority of athletes who struggle with energy deficiency do not deliberately restrict their food intake. They simply do not know how much they need in relation to how much they train, Moksnes explains.
We also know that very intense and hard training can negatively affect appetite, Koivisto-Mørk says. According to the Norwegian Health Informatics website, intense training sessions can suppress levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.
We often have to tell athletes that they must remember to eat even if they do not feel hungry. It is essential to establish good routines for regular food intake.
Ask what they are eating!
A good place to start for parents and coaches who are concerned about an athlete is to ask: "What did you have for breakfast today?" Because the answer is often "I don't eat breakfast," Moksnes says.
If the athlete replies, "I had porridge with lots of toppings," that is excellent - that is the kind of porridge many of our young athletes eat now, he explains.
