The half-time food and drink dilemma - what to give your players?

The days when a couple of slices of orange were considered the optimum half-time treat are well in the past now and have been for quite some time.

Times have changed and we now know that the fructose content can actually cause stomach upsets – hardly the distraction your 10-year-old wants when he’s bearing down on goal and looks like scoring.

So if you’re looking for a half-time snack that will help your team, here are three surprisingly good alternatives...

1. Jelly babies/jelly beans – for a quick sugar fix these are fun, quick and relatively light. And what child would turn them down? Combined with a drink of water they will get your team through the second half.
   
   
2. Fig rolls – simple sugars help to counter carbohydrate depletion while the electrolytes (in the form of sodium and potassium) keep muscles firing. Fig rolls may not be a kid’s favourite snack, so if players really don’t like the taste or texture tell them it’s what they eat at Manchester United
   
   
3. Hot chocolate – the old-fashioned cup of tea at half-time isn’t maybe such a bad idea, when you think of its rehydrating effects combined with a caffeine hit. But for kids, you might have similar success with a hot chocolate or cocoa drink, given its sugar, fat and cocoa content. And if you’ve any left over, there’s something to keep you warm on the touchline during the second half!
   
   

Answer by Stuart Galise, a Chartered Physiotherapist and Nutritionist with clinics in Bath and Bristol