Eating oranges at halftime is a popular and long-standing tradition in youth sports in countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

They are also regularly eaten by professional athletes in competitions such as the Australian Football League, as well as the National Basketball Association and the National Football League (NFL) in America.

In fact, the NFL’s game operations manual states that each home team must provide the visiting team with “three dozen sliced ​​oranges for halftime,” as well as other items such as ice cream, coffee, and gum.

But why do we do this? And how did it start?

Origins of oranges in sports

The exact origin of this relationship between oranges and sports is difficult to determine.

According to the US company Florida Fruit Shippers, the consumption of oranges has been a tradition in England since the 1950s.

Another proposed origin story comes from the America Youth Soccer organization and states that the tradition was started by a donation from a supporting local citrus growing company.

It has also been suggested that the disease emerged in Australia and Britain during World War II and was linked to government concerns about poor nutrition following food rationing.

In a similar way to how schoolchildren were given free milk to prevent diseases such as rickets, they were also given oranges to counteract vitamin C and iron deficiencies, as vitamin C has been shown to improve the absorption of iron from plant sources.

Benefits of eating oranges

Fruits like oranges contain carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Carbohydrates are important for energy, while vitamins and minerals are important for growth and development.

Together, these nutrients contribute to good health.

In Australia, only about two-thirds of children under 18 eat the recommended amount of fruit. For good health, you should aim to eat at least two portions of fruit a day.

Encouraging children to eat fruit can improve their health and athletic performance.

To promote children’s performance in youth sports, it is important to offer them healthy snacks that help them perform at their best.

Eating fruit at halftime (or quartertime) is a great way to increase your fruit intake. There are also benefits to eating oranges instead of lollipops, which only contain added sugar.

One benefit of oranges (like watermelon, strawberries or grapes) is that they contain a lot of water. This can help you stay hydrated, which is important in all sports and at any age.

Another benefit is that oranges contain natural sugars that provide energy during exercise, making them the ideal snack between meals.

An average-sized orange contains about 10-12 grams of carbohydrates in the form of natural sugars. These carbohydrates are easily digestible and provide sustained energy.

In sports with shorter training times, additional energy boosts are not always necessary, as the muscle reserves are not exhausted as quickly.

Although oranges are not essential for shorter sports lasting less than 75 minutes, they can help hydrate, release energy, and provide important nutrients that contribute to children’s health.

In addition, their natural sweetness ensures a pleasant taste.

Are there any disadvantages?

Although eating oranges is beneficial, Netball Queensland reportedly banned them during half-time 15 years ago.

The concern? Potential damage to children’s teeth due to the acidity of oranges. Coaches were encouraged to recommend liquids to players instead of oranges to ensure adequate hydration.

While it is true that increased consumption of fruit and fruit juice can damage your teeth, eating a few orange slices at half time is unlikely to cause any harm.

In fact, dehydration is a bigger problem for dentists because of the resulting reduced saliva production.

Saliva helps protect teeth from tooth decay and erosion. When saliva production decreases, the protection provided to teeth also decreases.

Recently, some South Australian football clubs have also banned oranges and some teams have replaced them with lollipops. This trend seems to have come about because parents talked to each other and decided that a sugar rush was beneficial.

But lollipops are often sticky, so they stick to the tooth surface and stay there for a long time. This prolonged exposure to sugar increases the risk of tooth decay.

A fact sheet supported by Nutrition Australia and the Australian Dental Association states that the consumption of lollipops is not recommended for junior players.

However, not everyone has given up on the orange.

The Victorian State Government’s Vic Kids Eat Well program still promotes the idea of ​​”fuelling with fruit” and encourages young players to snack on easily prepared fruits such as orange and apple slices.

They also recommend less acidic alternatives such as watermelon or bananas.

While it’s difficult to say exactly how, where, and why oranges became so ubiquitous in sports, they seem to serve a purpose for athletes of all ages and skill levels.