An evaluation of dietary practices of soccer players from an English Premier League team using a behavioural change science framework

Foo, WL, Close, GL ORCID: 0000-0002-7210-9553, Areta, JL ORCID: 0000-0001-6918-1223 and Morton, JP ORCID: 0000-0003-2776-2542 (2026) An evaluation of dietary practices of soccer players from an English Premier League team using a behavioural change science framework. Journal of Sports Sciences. pp. 1-20. ISSN 0264-0414

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Abstract

Professional soccer players often fail to meet recommended dietary intakes. Accordingly, we aimed to quantify dietary intake of male English Premier League (EPL) players and explore the enablers and barriers influencing dietary behaviours using the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model. Ten players from a single EPL club participated. Dietary intakes were assessed using the remote food photography method over a 4-day in-season period comprising a training day, the day before a match (MD-1), match day (MD), and the day after a match (MD + 1). On day 5, dietary recalls and semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore factors influencing dietary behaviours. Relative carbohydrate intake was significantly higher on MD-1 (4.6 ± 0.8 g·kg BM-1·day-1) than on training days (3.5 ± 0.8 g·kg BM-1·day-1, p = 0.019) and MD + 1 (3.6 ± 0.5 g·kg BM-1·day-1, p = 0.013). Knowledge (psychological capability) was the primary enabler of dietary behaviours. Key barriers included beliefs about consequences (reflective motivation), particularly the desire to feel light before and during matches and suppressed appetite post-match (automatic motivation). Reflective (desire to feel light) and automatic (suppressed appetite) motivation limited fuelling. Although knowledge supported dietary behaviours, targeted behaviour-change interventions beyond education are needed to improve carbohydrate intake.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Dietary behaviours; soccer; performance nutrition; behaviour change; Dietary behaviours; behaviour change; performance nutrition; soccer; 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; 3210 Nutrition and Dietetics; Nutrition; 3 Good Health and Well Being; 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences; 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy; Sport Sciences; 3202 Clinical sciences; 4207 Sports science and exercise; 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
Subjects:	T Technology > TX Home economics > TX341 Nutrition. Foods and food supply R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Informa UK Limited
Date of acceptance:	3 August 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	8 October 2026
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2026 09:25
Last Modified:	08 Oct 2026 09:25
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/02640414.2026.2722778
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29629

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