Contemporary educational and behavior change strategies improve dietary practices around a match in professional soccer players.

Background: The importance of nutrition in optimizing the health and performance of professional soccer players has been well established. Despite published practical recommendations for the dietary requirements for professional soccer players, many players fail to meet these guidelines. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to assess the impact of targeted nutritional education and behavior change interventions on dietary intake in professional football players. Additionally, previous research within this population has reported elevations in resting metabolic rate (RMR) following match-play. Therefore, a further aim of this study was to examine whether any changes in dietary intake would influence RMR following match-play.

Methods: Twenty players from the professional development phase in an English Premier League club (age: 18.4 ± 1.0 years; body mass: 76.1 ± 6.0 kg; stature: 1.80 ± 0.07 m) were randomly assigned to an "Intervention" (INT) group (n = 10), who received numerous nutritional education and behavior change interventions, or a "Control" (CON) group (n = 10), who received no nutrition support. Dietary intake was assessed daily throughout the match-week (Match Day (MD)-2, MD-1, MD, MD + 1, and MD + 2), whilst RMR was assessed on MD-1, MD + 1, and MD + 2. Statistical analyses on the intervention effects on dietary intake and RMR were carried out using a two factor (group and day) analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a subsequent Bonferroni post-hoc test.

Results: Mean energy (3393 ± 852 vs. 2572 ± 577 kcal · day^-1) and CHO (5.36 ± 1.9 vs. 3.47 ± 1.1 g · kg^-1 BW · day^-1) intake was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the INT vs. CON group. Furthermore, the INT group implemented nutrition periodization practices as CHO intake was significantly increased on MD-1 (7.0 ± 1.7 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1), MD (7.1 ± 1.4 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1) and MD + 1 (5.1 ± 0.8 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1). However, the CON group did not periodize their CHO intake and failed to meet the CHO recommendations on MD-1, MD, and MD + 1 (<4 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1). Compared to MD-1, the RMR increased on MD + 1 and MD + 2 in both groups, although it was only statistically significant for the INT group (MD + 1 =  +243 kcal · day^-1; MD + 2 =  +179 kcal · day^-1).

Conclusions: The implementation of targeted nutritional education and behavior change interventions resulted in improved dietary practices in professional football players and enabled better adherence to recommended guidelines. However, despite this, RMR was still elevated in the 24-48 h following match play. Thus, in order to optimize recovery, this finding further reinforces the need for professional football players to adopt strategies to meet energy, and particularly CHO, requirements in the acute period following a match in order to account for this increase in energy requirement.