 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Kid Study
Dear Carol,I am doing a science fair project for my middle school. I am trying to prove that eating a smoothie (made of 1 banana, 6 strawberries, yogurt, and orange juice) would increase a middle schooler or kid's performance rather than eating a hershey bar.
I am going to test this with 10 kids: 5 girls and 5 boys. I am going to have some eat or drink the smoothie 10-15 min before they perform. I'll have the others eat the chocolate bar. I am going to have them perform how many jump ropes they can do in a minute.
The next day I will have them do the same exercises but I'm going to have the kids who drank the smoothie, eat the chocolate bar, and I'm going to have the kids who ate the chocolate bar, drink the smoothie. I was wondering if you had any evidence or something I could use to help me in this experiment, and/or help prove it?
LuLu
Over time, the fruit smoothie should improve performance. That means if you did lots of trials for lots of kids, you should find that their performance was enhanced. I'm not sure what will happen if you do this with 10 kids one or two times.
Here are some facts:
1. Bananas have potassium which are thought to prevent cramps. This is a good preventative method for any athlete. I like to eat bananas before I work out or ride my bike.
2. Fruit has carbohydrates. It has sugar that can give you quick energy but not with the "spike" that straight sugar gives you. Fruit takes a little more time to digest and gives you more "steady" energy along with other important vitamins and nutrients.
3. The chocolate candy is a combo of sugar and fat. Not a good idea right before exercise.
4. Drinking a "healthy" smoothie before will give the athlete's confidence. Just feeling "healthy" will give them a psychological advantage.
5. Easy on the yogurt. Keep the amount small right before the event. Make the smoothie with a little yogurt, the fruit, juice, some water and ice. This will also help keep your athletes hydrated (another plus).
GO FRUIT SMOOTHIE!
Carol
