Getting meals together while working around sports practices, recitals and other activities is a chore already. What can busy moms and dads do to make these meals more nutritious? Especially when the kids are active in sports and other forms of exercise?

We talked to Audrey Fendley, a clinical dietitian at Arkansas Children's Hospital, to see how to give little athletes and performers the fuel to succeed.

One way is to give them Carnation Instant Breakfast, Fendley says. This powder can be mixed with water or milk and comes in different flavors. There are also ready-to-drink options available. This is a good source of protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients that refuel the body after long bouts of exercise.

Gatorade is a popular drink among kids. The star-studded commercials make the drink look like a must-have for athletes, but the reality is that the drink is not recommended except under special circumstances.

"Kids just drink that all the time," Fendley says. "I'm always telling them, 'if you're doing less than an hour of sweating, whenever you're active, you don't need Gatorade. You just need water.'"

She says that parents may not realize that Gatorade contains a lot of sugar, even if it's less than the amount in soda. Twenty ounces of Coca-Cola contains 65 grams of sugar and a 20-ounce Gatorade contains 34 grams of sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that children 2-18 years of age should have less than 25 grams of added sugars a day.

She says that active teens should eat at least 60 grams of protein and maybe more based on their weight. She recommends a gram per kilogram of body weight, about a gram per 2 pounds.

Another way to make sure kids are eating healthy is to cut down on fast food. To make that easier, Fendley suggests cooking batches of food and freezing or refrigerating it.

"Parents could do more crock pot meals and making meals on the weekends and freezing it, so you can put it in the oven quickly and not resort to eating fast food," Fendley says. "Taking time to, not meal-plan, but just get an idea of what you're gonna have every day. So that you don't splurge because you don't have a plan."

She recommends keeping the macronutrient ratio at 50 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat and 20 percent protein. Those numbers represent the percentage of your total calories come from each nutrient.

So what kind of meals should kids be eating before and after activities? Half an hour to an hour before, give kids a 15-30 grams carbohydrate snack, like crackers, fruit or some peanut butter. No more than four hours before an activity, kids should have a decent meal with 30-45 grams of carbs and 20 grams or more of protein. After exercise, give them something with protein and carbs within an hour.

Nut butters, dairy products and lunch meats are all good foods to have on hand for hungry kids. Fendley says that she gives her son string cheese wrapped in lunch meat and enjoys it as a snack herself. 

Just remember that your kids' ability to function, not only in the field but in the classroom, depends on nutrition and adequate rest. We all know that kids aren't the best judge of whether or not they've had enough of either, so pay attention to how you can help meet those needs.