With the Leaving and Junior Cert exams entering their final stages, the summer sirens are in full song and yesterday saw the launch of a new nutrition initiative from Kellogg’s and the GAA based around the Kellogg’s Cúl camps which will host 100,000 children over the next eight weeks.
TV Star Baz Ashmawy was joined by Kilkenny hurler TJ Reid and Mayo footballer, Aidan O’Shea for the first-ever Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps Cook-Off, overseen by Kellogg’s nutritionist, Laura Street, to launch Kellogg’s Powering Play, aimed at helping children understand the importance of nutrition and its role in fuelling physical activity.
“We all need food to fuel our bodies and children should be eating and drinking different foods that will help them to be active,” said Street.
“The advice hasn’t changed; breakfast is still the most important meal of the day and if you start the day off well by fuelling your body, it will help ensure you have enough energy for the morning ahead.”
“People often underestimate the importance of hydration and the role it plays in helping to power play and maintain concentration levels. Children should start their day with milk or water and aim for eight glasses of water each day for optimum hydration. Obviously more might be needed on hots day or days of high activity and a little, often, is the best way to ensure that youngsters are getting sufficient amounts.”
“GAA is serious fun but it’s a serious sport and the guys and girls representing club and county display the most amazing skills and levels of fitness,” added Ashmawy.
“That comes from hard core training and dedication but it’s also obvious that food and hydration play a huge role in helping them to sustain their activity levels. You can’t expect to run on empty; you have to fuel an active body so for me, powering play is easy sums.”
2016 is Kellogg’s fifth year of sponsorship and the camps have been running for nine years taking place not only in Ireland but now also in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, the US, Canada and across Europe.
Their promotion on Kellogg’s packs in the run up to summer is a major additional benefit for the GAA in terms of visibility, especially important in a crowded summer of sport like in 2016.
