Food Intake And Body Composition Of Brazilian Elite Under-20 Soccer Players

Soccer is a sport of great physical effort and intensity, and nutrition is a factor that will influence the athlete's performance, contributing to speed, endurance, and strength, or even helping in faster recovery from injuries. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the dietary intake and body composition of under-20 elite soccer athletes from a first division team in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. METHODS: Twenty male athletes, aged between 18 and 20 years old, were evaluated. The protocol addressed demographic and socioeconomic issues, soccer practice and training phase, health history, sleep, use of dietary supplements and nutritional monitoring. In anthropometry and body composition analysis, weight, height, and skinfolds were measured by a trained anthropometrist and the 7 skinfolds protocol proposed by Jackson and Pollock (1978) was used for the body fat percentage (BFP). To evaluate dietary intake, three 24-hour recalls were collected on non-consecutive days and the average of the three days was used in the analysis. RESULTS: The mean age was 18.9 ± 0.7 years. The mean BMI was 22.9 ± 1.5 kg/m2 and the mean BFP was 8.0 ± 1.4%. Energy consumption was 2,106.2 ± 465.1 kcal/day and all athletes recorded energy intake bellow the estimated daily energy requirement. The mean consumption of carbohydrate was 3.5 g/kg/day, also below the recommendations for athletes and soccer players. Protein intake was 1.9 g/kg/day and considered adequate in view of the recommendations. As for micronutrients, most athletes (above 50%) had an insufficient intake of fiber, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A, B9, B6, D and E. CONCLUSIONS: The present research demonstrated an insufficient intake of energy and carbohydrates in under-20 soccer athletes from a first division team in Brazil, which can compromise their performance, in addition to an insufficient consumption of vitamins and minerals. Nutritional strategies should be created and applied with these athletes and their families for nutritional adequacy, health, and sports performance.