Diet quality of NCAA Division I athletes assessed by the Healthy Eating Index

Abstract

Optimizing diet quality is an important concept for college athletes. Purpose: To evaluate dietary quality of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes. Methods: Total 94 college athletes (n= 21 male, 73 female) from 19 different varsity teams at a single university completed a 24-hour dietary recall using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour (ASA24) Dietary Assessment Tool. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) with higher scores indicating better diet quality (range 0-100). Results: The average HEI score for the total sample was 59.2 ± 16.6 and only nine athletes achieved an HEI score ≥ 80. There were no significant differences in HEI scores between sexes, class, majors, sport played, or those who did or did not report taking previous nutrition coursework. Conclusions: The dietary quality was poor based on US dietary guidelines for the general population, which could have negative effects on health and performance.

Keywords:

• Diet quality
• college athletes
• Healthy Eating Index

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Drs. Serena Miller and Karl Erickson for participation on the dissertation committee of the lead author.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the United States and received approval from Michigan State University.

Funding

Additionally, we would like to acknowledge funding received from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, specifically the Julie Maillet O’Sullivan grant.