Analysis of Dietary Intake in Professional Female Football Players: Variations According to Playing Position, Age, and Country

The aim of this research is to evaluate the dietary intake of female footballers against established nutritional guidelines, while analysing the variables of age, playing position and location to identify if there is a difference in intake across the groups. The study will employ an observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional research design, focusing on female footballers from professional clubs, specifically two clubs in United Kingdom and two clubs in Spain. There is an anticipated sample size of 20 to 30 participants from each club. Inclusion criteria will be female participants who are professional footballers, aged 18 and older and free of disease. Dependent variables from dietary intake will include energy intake (kcal), energy availability (kcal/kg fat free mass/day), protein (g/day), carbohydrates (g/day), fat (%), vitamin D (mg/day), calcium (mg/day) and iron (mg/day). These will be collected using the scientifically valid Snap-N-Send method and analysed with Nutritics dietary analysis software, which has been validated for assessing macronutrients and micronutrients. Independent variables will consist of age groups, playing positions, and country of origin (England or Spain). Dietary intake will be recorded through WhatsApp, with subsequent data entry and storage in Nutritics. Statistical analyses will include MANOVA, used to compare dietary data among groups, one-sample t-test to test against published recommendations and the Shapiro-Wilk test to assess normality in data distribution. This study aims to assess the adequacy of the players' dietary intake in relation to established nutritional recommendations from different backgrounds and characteristics. Furthermore, practitioners can potentially make informed decisions that improve the nutrition education given to female athletes, which contributes to their overall health and wellbeing.