COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MACRONUTRIENT INTAKE IN YOUTH FOOTBALL PLAYERS UNDER STRUCTURED AND FREE-LIVING DIETARY CONDITIONS

Adequate nutrition in youth football must support two simultaneous demands: the energy cost of regular training and the physiological requirements associated with growth and biological maturation [1,4]. These demands are not constant throughout adolescence, because energy expenditure, body size, fat-free mass, and maturation status change as academy players progress through age groups [2,4]. Therefore, evaluating dietary intake only by chronological age may not fully reflect the nutritional needs of young football players [2,4].