Your kids off ice trainer should be fired. But, maybe check with your kids Doctor and not the cesspool that is the Hockeydboard. I mean if your looking for nutritional advice here and not the Drs office you might be as clueless as the trainer.

I do agree, the off ice guy is out of line.

Just because YOU don't ever bring actual value to the Boards doesn't mean that's universally true. There's a GREAT, detailed post about 20 minutes after yours that is way better advice than anyone is going to get from a pediatrician.

The problem with pediatrics is, it's a mainstream profession. Like the general practitioner, whose only function in today's American medical society is to serve as a gateway to specialists to keep insurance costs down, their knowledge and advice is going to be within one standard deviation of the mean. The random pediatrician isn't going to be able to provide advice for an aspiring elite athlete. Easier to say "I see no need. Nurse, next patient, please."

Creatine is a natural substance. That's good. Available evidence shows it enhances performance in "burst" sports. What's bad is, there really haven't been any detailed studies on the long-term effects. And, there are no empirical studies on the long-term effect on kids.

So, I'd 100% stay away from creatine until he's at least 18 and physically mature, still underweight, and is able to understand the effects it's having on his body. Follow the advice of the 7:11 AM poster, have him focus on a high protein diet, supplied by natural foods. At 13, I'd actually go with chocolate milk (preferably whole milk, versus low fat) within 15 minutes of a workout or intense practice, and save the protein powders for when he's a bit older, still. Chocolate milk is an amazing combination of protein, fat and carbs for athletes. Look for a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. Boost (original, not the high protein or low calorie reformulations) can even be carried in their hockey bag (no refrigeration required), and adds a ton of vitamins.

But, I wouldn't be vehemently opposed to whey/egg white protein powder, either, if the combination of diet and exercise isn't working. Hell, Starbucks sells it. 13 just feels a LITTLE young to me.

Adding weight is done in 1 place....the kitchen! Add a PB and J (or 2) at dinner and a Milkshake before bed. Its not going to happen overnight but you will see the scale go up over the course of a month or 2. Until a kids body is mature enough to process the synthetic form of protein it just ends up in the toilet (Literally). Creatine is naturally made in the body so most adults 18-45 only need a few grams per day if any at all. Again, a kid will just get a sick stomach and it will end up in the toilet.

Whey and egg white proteins aren't synthetic.

Move that milk shake to within 15 minutes of his hardest workouts. Maximum muscle absorption happens in that time frame. If you're going to to do it, do it when it is most effective, physiologically.

Yes if hes 18 and mature enough to be on a regiment..at 13, cmon man!

Meaning, what?

If your objection is about the protein powder, I agree with you, and even said I felt 13 was a little young. That part of the post you quoted was to correct a prior poster about natural vs. synthetic protein.

If it was about the milkshake within 15 minutes, the same principle applies whether it's a 13 year old, an 18 year old, or a 48 year old. So if the guy wants his kid to put on muscle mass, and if the same, 100% natural, kid-friendly "regiment" is five times more effective when done at the time the body is going to maximize protein absorption, why would you find that advice objectionable?

You do realize that creatine has not been approved by the FDA right? You aren't asking a pediatrician for a diagnosis you are asking advice which I'm pretty sure wouldn't result in a referral to a specialist. If it makes you feel better then ask a nutritionist. My point is if you have a question like this there are better places for advice then this website.
But after all that you agree with me so I am not sure what the point of your reply was. If you don't think this website is a cesspool then you contribute to the problem. I agree there are some helpful tips on here occasionally but the vast majority of these posts are troll city and insults.

I’m a little surprised that the trainer didn’t talk diet first. Low calorie protein powder to help improve a kids diet would have been my first thought. Body type is important to, but if the guy is recommending creatine the kid must be skinny, so for example if the kid is 100 pounds then to slowly put on weight with some off ice conditioning with maybe some extra pull ups and push ups through the week they should be getting 100 grams of protein spread out over 5-6 meals/snacks. A scoop of protein powder with say 17 grams of protein per scoop with a tablespoon of peanut butter would equal about 23 grams total, so it’s not that hard to get to.
Obviously kids eating habits blow so you can’t get to strict at that age and make it a job for them but you can help them, 3 egg scrambled with some cheese and maybe veggies is almost 20 grams, shake 23, can of tuna at lunch is 25, ground beef or turkey with rice and spinach’s dinner is 30, and a shake after practice is 23, total over a 100 grams. The child’s body type depends on carbs/fats, a real active hyper non video game kid needs more carbs, a couch potato needs less. After the food intake and off ice training is religiously done for 6 months then maybe add creatine, don’t start with it.

The problem has always been with creatine the amount of water you need to ingest just to keep from developing some serious kidney problems when you take the stuff (look it up). I'm not too sure I would trust a kid to to pick-up his dirty socks as much as managing to drink gallons of water everyday.

Years ago there was some study done in Texas that found something like 80% of D-I high school football players were juicing. I'm sure it's alive and well in hockey here in N.E. The point being maybe this helps to open a pandora's box if you start them so early. I'd say at least nothing from the standard diet until the kid's balls drop.