Is it realistic to change player diets?

Alter. Yes. 
Change. No. 

You can get kids to make some simple changes: Getting them to drink more milk and getting them to bring PB & J are two things that can be done with only a moderate amount of hassling. For the most part you are fighting a losing battle trying to get them to eliminate junk food. 

I've managed to change a few, but only those that take my phys. ed. classes. The classroom setting gives me the opportunity to fully explain the topic in detail and show them the benefits of eating healthy.

I teach Dr. Berardi's 10 habits of healthy nutrition as a baseline template then make modifications (if necessary) depending on their goals.

Like with many things, I think we can only help those that want to be helped. That being said, most kids don't even realize they're eating poorly...many kids think they're eating healthy because they drink diet pop or Gatorade, and eat granola bars.

Perhaps the biggest issue is that kids don't see nutrition as a means to an end. I guess most adults don't either.

It is possible.

Educate them.

Educate their parents.

Hound them at lunch.

We feed them after workouts too.

We feed them after some practices and before games.

You need to, most of all, educate them. Let them understand that 80% of their results from workouts is due to proper nutrition.

During the season we feed them on Thursday and Friday after school and before the game.

I will definitely put the information out there, with the positive returns of making some different choices, they would probably respond to that better as with anything else.  Give them a "selfish" reason to change.

May ask the other coaches if there is a way we can incorporate education in to all of our athletic programs/better stress it in our health and PE classes.  I know our district is making a push to change the offerings at lunch and have changed to all diet/zero drinks in the machines but those damn cheetos and taquitos are still the number one thing our kids go for.

I know our header talked about getting chocolate milk outside the weightroom for post workout and we only allow water during so that is one step.

Thanks guys.

We are fortunate to have a coach on staff that is a foods teacher. He always keeps milk and protein powder on hand. Our poor kids come in before school and down a big glass. They do this throughout the year. He also has peanut butter and jelly, and bread on hand.
Our teacher used to fund it himself, but then our booster club stepped up and funded it. I think there are at least 5-10 boys in our program that take advantage of it daily.

I'll ditto the notion that we can alter, they have to change.

You've got to educate them on what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat. You've got to tell them why it matters and how it benefits them. Lastly, you've got to tell them ALL THE FREAKING TIME.

You can't put the proper foods into their parents' grocery bags, but you CAN give them handouts/packets/papers to take home and read and potentially share with their folks.

It's a big deal, for sure, and requires great effort on your part to make an impact. But you can only do so much before they have to take the torch.

The word "supplement" and the phrase "performance-enhancing" are the parts that are left to interpretation, which is where the danger comes in.

If I drink a chocolate milk after working out, I am supplementing my diet AND enhancing future performance.  Or, I just like chocolate milk.

We can safely make assertions on things they could do better, such as "You need to ingest some quality protein within an hour of working out".  If you say something like "You need to ingest this MyoProPerformance Bar after working out", then you are exposing yourself more.

I think the only way to have success doing this is like some have mentioned above, providing cheap nutritious food to your players

For a while i was buying PB and J for the kids... but I was spending a ton of money and bought a new car so I need to be a little tighter with my money... at least until my rap career takes off

I wish I could buy protein powder for all the kids but it is not allowed

Food is fine, I think protein powder can be a gray area.

I am just saying if it is that regulated in ncaa (not banned in ncaa anymore but regulated to less than 30%) then you are really putting yourself out there by providing it for high schoolers.
JMHO


1. Permissible Substances: 
This refers to the group of items that may be provided to a student athlete by a university. They include vitamins and minerals, energy bars, calorie replacement drinks (with less than 30% of the calories from protein), and electrolyte replacement drinks (Ex: Gatorade and Powerade). The key here is the proteincontent. Institutions cannot provide products in which greater than 30% of the calories per serving come from protein.

Does he hand out this document?

www.fhsaa.org/sites/default/files/orig_uploads/health/pdf/2012_nfhs_smac_-_supplements_position_statement.pdf

God bless, maybe I should print out all these documents and hand them out in the elementary schools I work in on Fridays to the kids that we give bags of food to for the weekend just to make sure they have food in the house. If you have ever coached or worked in a school where there is wide spread poverty then you know sometimes the survival of the kids takes more importance than some stupid document or by-law of an organization. I am sure people who are giving stuff to kids who really need it would tell you the same thing, when it comes to the overall well being of the kids then screw the by the book approach.