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Associations Between Nutrition Knowledge, Body Composition, and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Performance in Adolescent
Andreea Simina Dumitrescu1,2, Alexandru Alexandru3, Sorin-Ovidiu Brîndescu1,4
1Department of Kinetotherapy, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, West University of Timișoara, Bulevardul Vasile Pârvan 4, 300223 Timisoara, Romania.
Sports (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 25, 2026
Summary
In young male football players, sports nutrition knowledge did not correlate with body composition but was linked to better cardiorespiratory fitness. Rural athletes showed higher performance and nutrition knowledge than urban peers.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Exercise Physiology
- Nutrition Science
Background:
- Optimizing youth football performance requires understanding behavioral factors, body composition, and cardiorespiratory capacity.
- The relationship between sports nutrition knowledge, body composition, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in adolescent athletes is poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between sports nutrition knowledge, body composition, and cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescent male football players.
- To explore potential differences in these metrics between rural and urban participants.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study analyzing body composition via bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).
- Maximal cardiorespiratory testing and sports nutrition knowledge assessment using the Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (NSKQ).
Main Results:
- Average VO2max was 51.18 mL/kg/min; mean nutrition knowledge score was 53.8%.
- Nutrition knowledge was not associated with BMI, fat-free mass (FFM), or FFM%.
- Higher nutrition knowledge correlated with superior VO2max and anaerobic threshold (AT). Rural participants had higher cardiorespiratory performance and nutrition knowledge than urban peers.
Conclusions:
- Sports nutrition knowledge in adolescent male football players is not linked to body composition but shows positive associations with cardiorespiratory fitness.
- Higher sports nutrition literacy may support performance-enhancing behaviors and metabolic conditioning.
- Findings are cross-sectional and hypothesis-generating, suggesting future interventional studies.
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