Authors: Gibson, J. C., Stuart-Hill, L., Martin, S., & Gual, C.

International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. (2011) 21, 507-514.

Commentary by Heather Hynes

When working with elite female athletes as a sport scientist, support staff or coach, it is critical to gain an understanding of their dietary practices. Making the assumption that they are fueling their bodies properly for training and competition may not be appropriate. This Canadian research article took a comprehensive analysis of the dietary habits of 33 junior elite female soccer players and presented the findings in a manner that highlights the inadequacies in both macro and micronutrients. Junior athletes training at the elite level have many nutritional challenges; the energy needs for optimal growth and development, the additional fuel requirements for training and competition and the frequent pressure to maintain the ‘optimal’ body composition for sport. The authors found that the mean energy intake values (2,079 ± 460 kcal/day) were significantly lower than the calculated energy requirements (2,546 ± 190 kcal/day). They also noted that over 50% of the participants were not meeting the guidelines for carbohydrate intake. Soccer places a great demand on muscle glycogen and having any inadequacies in carbohydrate intake could have a direct impact on the athlete’s ability to train and compete. Micronutrient data is also presented; the researchers found that 100% of the participants were not meeting the Dietary Reference Intake recommendations for Vitamin D. This article highlights the importance of ongoing sports nutrition education.