For adolescent athletes, data on nutrition behaviors are limited. The present study aimed to evaluate the dietary habits of adolescent sports club participants (SPs) compared with those of non‐participants (NPs). The cross‐sectional study of 1917 adolescents aged 14‐16 was based on data from the Finnish Health Promoting Sports Club (FHPSC) study. The health behavior surveys were conducted among SPs (n = 1093) and NPs (n = 824). Logistic regression was used to test statistical significance of the differences in dietary habits between SPs and NPs. SPs were more likely than NPs to eat breakfast on weekends [89% vs 79%, odds ratio (OR) 1.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07‐2.01] and to report daily consumption of vegetables (46% vs 32%, OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.04‐1.69) and fat‐free or semi‐skimmed milk (72% vs 55%, OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.04‐1.68). Dietary habits regarded as unhealthy, such as sugared soft drink consumption, were similar between the groups. The aforementioned healthy dietary habits are more frequent in SPs than NPs, and unhealthy dietary habits are equally frequent in the groups. Both adolescent SPs’ and NPs’ dietary habits have deficiencies, like inadequate vegetable and fruit consumption. Sports clubs’ opportunities for adolescents’ healthy eating promotion should be examined.

Success in long-term weight management depends partly on psychological and behavioral aspects. Understanding the links between psychological factors and eating behavior tendencies is needed to develop more effective weight management methods. This population-based cross-sectional study examined whether eating self-efficacy (ESE) is associated with cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE), emotional eating (EE), and binge eating (BE). The hypothesis was that individuals with low ESE have more unfavorable eating behavior tendencies than individuals with high ESE. Participants were classified as low ESE and high ESE by the Weight-Related Self-Efficacy questionnaire (WEL) median cut-off point. Eating behavior tendencies were assessed with Three Factor Eating Questionnaire R-18 and Binge Eating Scale, and additionally, by the number of difficulties in weight management. The difficulties were low CR, high UE, high EE, and moderate or severe BE. Five hundred and thirty-two volunteers with overweight and obesity were included in the study. Participants with low ESE had lower CR (p < 0.03) and higher UE, EE, and BE (p < 0.001) than participants with high ESE. Thirty-nine percent of men with low ESE had at least two difficulties in successful weight control while this percentage was only 8% in men with high ESE. In women, the corresponding figures were 56% and 10%. The risk of low ESE was increased by high UE [OR 5.37 (95% CI 1.99–14.51)], high EE [OR 6.05 (95% CI 2.07–17.66)], or moderate or severe BE [OR 12.31 (95% CI 1.52–99.84)] in men, and by low CR [OR 5.19 (95% CI 2.22–12.18)], high UE [OR 7.20 (95% CI 2.41–19.22)], or high EE [OR 23.66 (95% CI 4.79–116.77)] in women. Low ESE was associated with unfavorable eating behavior tendencies and multiple concomitant difficulties in successful weight loss promotion. These eating behavior tendencies should be considered when counseling patients with overweight and obesity.