Nutrition knowledge and dietary intake in male English Premier League academy players and their key stakeholders

Background Adequate nutrition knowledge (NK) and dietary intake are important to the development in Youth Development Phase (YDP) academy footballers, helping to fuel sporting performance and promote long-term health. However, these areas remain under-researched within English Premier League (EPL) academy settings. This study aimed to investigate NK and energy intake (EI) in YDP academy players, including key stakeholders' knowledge, within a single Category 1 Academy.

What the research examined

Methods Eighty-three EPL Category 1 YDP academy players (U11s = 17, U12s = 16, U13s = 8, U14s = 17, U15s = 10, and U16s = 15; 14 ± 2 years), 6 academy coaches, 1 YDP sports scientist and 31 caregivers' knowledge was assessed through the 89-item Knowledge and Sports Questionnaire (NSKQ). Twenty-five EPL Category 1 YDP academy players (U12s: n = 8, U13s: n = 9, U14s: n = 5, and U16s: n = 3; 13 ± 2 years) dietary intake was also assessed using an estimated written 7-day food diary collected during the in-season (2023/2024 season, March to May 2023). Results Collectively, academy players (33% ± 8%), caregivers (40% ± 13%), and coaches (41% ± 9%) scored poorly on NK.

What the findings mean

Academy players reported sub-optimal energy intake (1742 ± 314 kcal·day -1 and 38.5 ± 11.4 kcal·kg⁻¹·day⁻¹), accompanied by poor intake of daily carbohydrate ( -1 ), and fiber ( -1 ) exceeded the recommended intake for adolescent footballers, while fat intake (27% ± 6%) expressed as a percentage of total dietary intake (TDI) was within the guidelines. NK was not correlated with absolute EI, ( r (23) = -.187, p = .371, or EI adjusted to BM, ( r (23) = .204, p = .329. Conclusion The results indicated poor NK and suboptimal dietary intake in EPL Category 1 academy players accompanied by low knowledge among stakeholders.

Study authors: Levington A, Hulton A, Myrissa K, Oxenham P, Coope O, Patterson S, Milner S, Spurr TJ, Fleming J.. This report is based on the openly licensed abstract and source record and has been formatted for newsroom reading.