It happens without fail. Your kids finish a swimming lesson and hop out of the pool ready to devour whatever you put in front of them. If they weren’t already, they become bottomless pits of hunger. What’s going on, and why shouldn’t giving them a snack be your first response?

Why Swimming Makes You Hungry

This hunger has  physiological reasons.

1. Water draws heat from your body faster than air. Your child’s body uses energy to keep warm, and the heat loss triggers his body to create insulation in the form of fat. Both of these things send a message to his brain that his body needs fuel.
2. Swimming, like any other exercise, makes your child thirsty, but because he’s not sweating, he can become dehydrated without realizing it. Some of what your child perceives as hunger when he gets out of the pool may actually be thirst.

What to Do about It

Have a warm drink ready for your kids as soon as they get out of the pool after your swimming lesson, before they have a snack. It will help them warm up and satisfy any thirst that’s masquerading as hunger. After that, give them a snack. (That part’s a no-brainer.)