Youth sports leagues are a great way for children to get physical activity, develop teamwork, and create friendships. Research has shown that youth who participate in sports leagues are eight times as likely to be active in their early 20s than those who don’t participate.
This is good news for the more than half of the American youth ages 6 to 12 who participated in a team sport in 2017, with baseball, basketball, and soccer being the most popular. But our recent research showed that snacks that have become a ritual for many families after youth sports games contained more calories than the amount kids burned.
