Nutritional Status and Feeding Habits of Players in a Professional Soccer Team

Abstract

Despite soccer being the most popular sport on the planet, player nutrition is certainly a neglected aspect of their preparation. Physical activity requires a mix of the different physiological mechanisms of energy production, both aerobic and anaerobic and therefore a balanced intake of nutrients. The role of carbohydrates is widely known to be a key aspect of athletic performance.
Objective: To determine the nutritional habits and intake of macronutrients of soccer players in a single professional team.
Materials and Methods: We carried out an epidemiological, descriptive, prospective study including the 22 male players on a single Spanish second-division B soccer team. The average age was 26.19 years old (19.5-31.6). We ellaborated a protocol for data collection regarding nutritional intake for 7 consecutive days, measuring macronutrient intake and quantifying total energy expenditure, which varied depending on training sessions and player position.
Results: On average, carbohydrate consumption was 305.0756gr (48.78% of calories consumed). There were statistically significant differences between carbohydrate consumption on moderate-intensity activity days (on average 213.637gr; 39.93% of total intake) and high-intensity activity days (on average 361.8428gr; 49.21% of total intake). In addition, we found significant differences in player height, base metabollic rate and total energy expenditure between the positions of goalkeeper and advanced band player (p<0.05).
Discussion: Both the average carbohydrate intake and the overall caloric intake of our athletes fell short of the recommended standard for professional soccer players (3,600Kcal/day).