Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz (second from left) and her husband, renowned weightlifting coach Julius Naranjo, join Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial (right) lend their support to Jeaneth Aro’s book launch. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
When all else is equal, the difference between winning and losing, according to nutritionist Jeaneth Aro, resides “in the little things.”
“Athletes of today … are all very talented, all well-trained and highly motivated, especially in the elite level,” Aro, whose athlete portfolio includes Olympic weightlifting gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, told the Inquirer in a message Thursday evening.
“The thin line between winning and losing is now influenced by the little things they do … like nutrition and sports psychology.”
But to cover most of that thin line is to start proper nutrition behavior at a young age. And this is one of the reasons why Aro, who also plans the nutrition program of the national boxing team (two silvers, one bronze in Tokyo), boxing champion Mark Magsayo and Philippine Basketball Association champion TNT, kicked off a book series called “Mga Kuwentong Nutrition ni Coach Jeaneth Aro.”
A large part of Aro’s purpose is to encourage good nutrition within the family.
“The books are a fun way for parents and children to learn about proper nutrition behavior together,” she said.
But the series can also help kids who have elite athlete aspirations.
Aro launched the first book of the series recently, with Diaz gracing the event and swearing on the importance of nutrition.
“We should start proper nutrition at a young age,” Diaz said in Filipino during the launch. “It’s good we have books like this that really help athletes.”
The book, “Ang Natatagong Lakas ni Bulas Gatas,” explores the reality that not all milk products are created equal.
“People are confused and people and kids choose milk-like drinks with too much sugar over whole milk. That contributes to the incidence of obesity among children,” Aro explained.
Her son, 17-year-old Alex, is a co-author of the book.
“I’m really proud of this collaboration with my son,” Aro said. “Alex really went through the nutrition policies I set for our household and he helped me share it in a creative and engaging way. He made it entertaining and child-friendly.”
But it isn’t only Alex’s valuable insight that helped Aro, but her own experience as well. In college, Aro competed in taekwondo, a weight-categorized sport.
“I know the hardships athletes go through to lose weight. They’re tired, they’re hungry, they become grouchy,” Aro said. “And because I understand how they feel, I learned how to be compassionate with them. I also learned how to be considerate.”
Because of Aro’s experience, her athletes no longer starve themselves to meet their required weight.
“Before, we were taught that to excel, you have to train really hard. Nowadays, with the recent studies available, we are taught to train smart. And training smart means to start having good nutrition habits at a young age,” Aro said, adding there are greater dangers of poor nutrition than just losing energy to train.
“If they sacrifice nutrition or not meet the nutritional needs they need considering the amount of training young athletes do, their growth and development will be compromised. They may have energy to do their sport, but in the long run, the ability of their bodies to grow to its potential is sacrificed.
“For some, their reproductive health is even compromised because of a mix of poor nutrition habits and high physical demands of their sport.”
Aro is slowly getting help for her advocacy. Real California Milk supported the book launch while MVP Sports Foundation is backing her milk feeding program.
Aro said there will be more books in the series, including collaborations with her younger son, Jacob. INQ