An investigation of dietary intake, nutrition knowledge and hydration status of Gaelic Football players

Purpose To assess the dietary intake, nutrition knowledge and hydration status of Irish Gaelic footballers. Method One hundred and sixty-eight male club/county level Irish Gaelic footballers (median [IQR]; age 23 years [20.0, 27.0]; height 1.79 m [1.74, 1.84]; body mass 78.0 kg [73.5, 84.8]) participated in this cross-sectional study. Dietary intake was assessed using a 4-day semi-quantitative food record, with the application of Goldberg cut-offs to define acceptable reporters (n = 62). Nutrition knowledge was assessed using the validated Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire in a sub-group of athletes (n = 24), while hydration status was measured using urine specific gravity pre-exercise (USG) in 142 athletes. Results Dietary analysis indicated an energy deficit at the group level (485 kcal [IQR 751,6]) (p p p p Conclusions Our findings suggest that Irish Gaelic footballers have sub-optimal dietary practices and lack nutrition knowledge. Individualised nutrition support may benefit these athletes to meet their nutrition requirements, to support health and performance.