A nutrition education intervention in adolescents who play soccer: the ideha-f project / Intervención educativa sobre alimentación en futbolistas adolescentes: proyecto IDEHA-F

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Diet and physical activity are prioritised in behavioural interventions given their influence on major child health issues. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of an educational intervention, based on the Behaviour Change Wheel model, on adherence to healthy eating habits in adolescent soccer players in Asturias, Spain. METHOD: This pilot study involved 319 soccer players (mean age=14.19 years; SD=1.089), who were distributed into a control group (CG) and an intervention group (IG). The response variables were the usage rate of, adherence to, and acquisition of knowledge of the Mediterranean diet. The intervention included posters, a web-app, and practical activities. RESULTS: The mean score on the knowledge questionnaire was 2.53 for the CG and 3.42 for the IG (p <.001). A weak direct correlation was observed between diet knowledge and KIDMED scores (r =.222, p =.013). The total pre-test KIDMED (p <.001) and diet knowledge ( p =.05) scores explained approximately 33% of the total post-test KIDMED score. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of posters and a web app as intervention tools have been shown to be feasible in order to provide information on healthy eating habits to adolescents who play soccer and to help them maintain those eating habits