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

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.

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).

Collectively, academy players (33% ± 8%), caregivers (40% ± 13%), and coaches (41% ± 9%) scored poorly on NK. 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 (<5 g·kg-1·d^-1), and fiber (<25 g/day) referenced to recommended daily intakes. Daily protein intake (1.7 ± 0.5 g·kg-1·d^-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.

The results indicated poor NK and suboptimal dietary intake in EPL Category 1 academy players accompanied by low knowledge among stakeholders.