@ Nutrition Por @O7Q), Active People Top Athletes Don’t Play Games With Nutrition (NAPSA)—Recent research sug- gests athletes who drink milk may have a better chance of avoiding a bad break during competition. About 25 percent of the eight million youths who participate in junior high and high school sports incur some form of injury, according to figures from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. In fact, more than 2.6 million young Americans visit emergency rooms each year for sports-related injuries. Sports injuries also constitute one in five emergency room visits among people aged 5 to 24. The good news is that proper training and nutrition could help to prevent many of these injuries, according to sports nutritionist Heidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM, a consultant to the New York Mets and New York Giants. One diet downfall that she frequently observes is the lack of calcium, which mayset the stage for stress fractures and other injuries. “Teens are reaching for nutri- ent-void soft drinks and sports drinks to satisfy their thirst, but theyre creating a calcium drought for their bones,” Skolnik warns. “Young athletes need at least three glasses of milk a day for calcium to help keep them from being sidelined. Milk also packs protein to maximize muscle development.” The Athlete’s Choice Recent figures show that the amountof soft drinks teenagers consume has risen by more than three gallons per capita over the past decade, while the amount of got milk? as mend milk to the athletes they train and suggest about three glasses of milk a day. 88 percent believe that strong bones are important to help prevent injury. 98 percent agree milk’s nine essential nutrients are important for athletes trying to lose weight. 94 percent of trainers recommend milk to help maintain mus- aAN Kia mS cle mass. @ Health experts and trainers recommend milk to help athletes stay off the sidelines. milk consumed has dropped by the same amount. On average, teens are drinking only one glass of milk a day. Teens missing out on milk are missing out on good nutrition. During teen years, nearly half of all bone mass is formed and about 15 percent of adult height is added. That’s why it is so important for teens to include three to four glasses of milk each day for calcium to do its job to help build strong bones, especially for young athletes. A survey of 50 team trainers from the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB also showed milk to be a preferred beverage choice for their athletes: 100 percent think the bonestrengthening calcium in milk is important for the athletes they train 96 percent of trainers recom- Kick-Off with Calcium to Win a Million For more information on how milk is an important part of an athlete’s training table, you can visit one of the more than 40 got milk? 3-v-3 Soccer Shootout tournaments, where dietitians share tips on milk’s role in good nutrition. Additionally, athletes of all ages can compete for $1 million by kick- ing the highest score in an interactive soccer challenge. Local soccer winners will move on to regional championships and those winners then have a shot to kick for $1 million during halftime of the MLS Cup 2001 and to appear in their very own “milk mustache”ad. For more information about the got milk? 3-v-3 Soccer Shootout and the nutritional benefits of drinking milk, log onto www.whymilk.com. The National “got milk?” Milk Mustache Campaignis jointly funded by America’s milk processors and dairy farmers: the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board and Dairy Man- agement Inc. A series of educational brochures is available on the Web at www.whymilk.com.
