Fuelling the Growing Athlete: RED-S, Energy Availability, and Nutrition Across Adolescence

Time: 1125 - 1150 | Venue: TBC, Academia (SGH Campus)

Track: Session 1 - Paediatrics Sport & Exercise Medicine

Speaker:

Overview:

Adolescence represents a critical period of growth, development, and increasing athletic demands, yet young athletes are uniquely vulnerable to low energy availability (LEA) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). This presentation explores the interplay between growth-related physiological needs, training load, and nutritional intake across puberty, highlighting how inadequate fuelling disrupts endocrine function, bone health, maturation, and performance.

Key concepts of energy availability will be contextualised for paediatric populations, where dynamic changes in height, body composition, and training intensity complicate assessment. Practical challenges in identifying LEA in adolescents will be addressed, including limitations of current screening tools and the overlap with disordered eating behaviours. Practical strategies will be emphasised, including “food-first” education, promotion of regular eating patterns and non-stigmatising conversations around fuelling.

Multidisciplinary approaches involving coaches, healthcare professionals, parents, and athletes will be highlighted to promote early recognition and prevention of REDs, with the aim of supporting practitioners in safeguarding health while maximising athletic development in the growing athlete.