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Fueling the Future: Advances in Sports Nutrition for Young Athletes

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Sports Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2026 | Viewed by 596

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Applied Nutrition Research Group (GENA), Nutrition Lab, CIIEM—Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, Caparica, 2829-511 Almada, Portugal
Interests: medical and health sciences; nutrition and dietetics; sports nutrition

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Guest Editor
Applied Nutrition Research Group (GENA), Nutrition Lab, CIIEM—Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, Caparica, 2829-511 Almada, Portugal
Interests: foods; nutrition education; food intake assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sports practice in childhood and adolescence is recommended not only as part of a healthy lifestyle but also for its importance in youth development. In addition to school physical activity classes, youth often adhere to organized sports outside the school environment, and in spite this, at an amateur level, it is often competitive. This involves regular and intensive practice as well as an increasing demand on physical effort and a paradigm change in the role of exercise in these age groups.

Therefore, there is a growing concern in the sports nutrition area for young athletes. 

This Special Issue explores the latest scientific advancements in sports nutrition tailored for active young individuals.

It aims to provide evidence-based insights into the adequacy of food and nutrient intake in several sports practices at young ages (e.g., soccer, swimming, volleyball) as well as the characterization of body composition and growth, adherence to healthy dietary patterns and knowledge assessment on sports nutrition topics.

The ultimate question is whether young athletes are meeting the energy and nutrient requirements for proper growth and development, and we aim to build evidence on future research about sports nutrition knowledge and food education programs tailored for these age groups.

Dr. Filipa Vicente
Dr. Paula C. Pereira
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • young athletes
  • sports nutrition
  • nutrition education
  • nutrient requirements
  • food intake
  • dietary patterns
  • youth sports

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 578 KiB  
Article
Effectiveness of a Nutrition Education Programme on Nutritional Knowledge in Young Football Players: A Pilot Study
by Filipa Vicente, Leandro Anastácio, Andreia Monteiro, José Brito, Renata Ramalho and Paula Pereira
Nutrients 2025, 17(15), 2404; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17152404 - 23 Jul 2025
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Abstract
Background: Adequate nutrition is fundamental to the health and performance of young athletes. However, many fail to meet nutritional recommendations. Nutrition education programmes are promising, cost-effective strategies for improving dietary habits. However, research gaps persist, coupled with notable variability amongst the intervention programmes [...] Read more.
Background: Adequate nutrition is fundamental to the health and performance of young athletes. However, many fail to meet nutritional recommendations. Nutrition education programmes are promising, cost-effective strategies for improving dietary habits. However, research gaps persist, coupled with notable variability amongst the intervention programmes targeting youth athletes. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional knowledge of Portuguese youth athletes and to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition education programme in improving football players’ understanding of a healthy diet. Methods: Participants were recruited from a local football club through public announcement. Male youth football players aged 13 to 18 years, training at least 3 times per week and competing regularly over the past six months, were eligible. The baseline assessment included anthropometric measurements, an assessment of the adherence to the Mediterranean diet using the KIDMED questionnaire, and an assessment of general and sports nutrition knowledge via a structured questionnaire. Following the intervention—comprising three face-to-face educational sessions and two digital infographics—the KIDMED and nutrition knowledge questionnaires were re-administered. Results: A sample of 38 male footballers were eligible for this study. Most participants exhibited a healthy body weight, with a corresponding adequate body composition. The mean KIDMED score indicated moderate adherence to the Mediterranean diet with no statistically significant difference between the baseline and post-intervention (6.79 ± 1.52 versus 6.97 ± 2.01, p > 0.05). There was a significant enhancement in overall nutrition knowledge, accompanied by notable improvements in the comprehension of macro- and micronutrient sources and sports nutrition principles. Conclusions: This pilot programme proved effective in enhancing young football players’ knowledge of nutrient sources and sports nutrition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fueling the Future: Advances in Sports Nutrition for Young Athletes)
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