The Environmental Impact of the Athlete’s Plate Nutrition Education Tool

Abstract

Periodized nutrition is necessary to optimize training and enhance performance through the season. The Athlete’s Plate (AP) is a nutrition education tool developed to teach athletes how to design their plates depending on training load (e.g., volume × intensity), from easy (E), moderate (M) to hard (H). The AP was validated, confirming its recommendations according to international sports nutrition guidelines. However, the AP had significantly higher protein content than recommended (up to 2.9 ± 0.5 g·kg−1·d−1; p < 0.001 for H male). The aim of this study was to quantify the environmental impact (EnvI) of the AP and to evaluate the influence of meal type, training load, sex and registered dietitian (RD). The nutritional contents of 216 APs created by 12 sport RDs were evaluated using Computrition Software (Hospitality Suite, v. 18.1, Chatsworth, CA, USA). The EnvI of the AP was analyzed by life cycle assessment (LCA) expressed by the total amount of food on the AP, kg, and kcal, according to the Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment (SALCA) methodology. Higher EnvI is directly associated with higher training load when the total amount of food on the plate is considered for E (5.7 ± 2.9 kg CO2 eq/day); M (6.4 ± 1.5 kg CO2 eq/day); and H (8.0 ± 2.1 kg CO2 eq/day). Global warming potential, exergy and eutrophication are driven by animal protein and mainly beef, while ecotoxicity is influenced by vegetable content on the AP. The EnvI is influenced by the amount of food, training load and sex. This study is the first to report the degree of EnvI in sports nutrition. These results not only raise the need for sustainability education in sports nutrition in general, but also the urgency to modify the AP nutrition education tool to ensure sports nutrition recommendations are met, while not compromising the environment.

How Do Male Football Players Meet Dietary Recommendations? A Systematic Literature Review

“…Nutritional education can be also be implemented by a special tool, such as the Athlete’s Plate (AP). The AP was developed to teach athletes how to design their plates depending on training load [ 73 ].…”

Good Food, Good Mood: Perspectives on the Relationship Between Nutrition and Mental Health With Division I Collegiate Athletic Programs

“…While there are promising developments being made in areas of nutrition (Reguant-Closa et al, 2020 ) and mental health (Tomalski et al, 2019 ; NCAA, 2020 ), there is still a need to engage athletes and reduce stigma without unloading extra responsibility onto both staff and athletes (Kroshus, 2016 ; Sontang-Padilla et al, 2018 ; Purcell et al, 2019 ; Baugh et al, 2020 ). In addition, COVID-19 has further limited the opportunities for schools to hire more staff or obtain greater resources (DePietro, 2020 ; Moody, 2020 ).…”

“…Even if a school does not have a full-time dietitian on-hand, short nutrition guides can be made for athletes to plan meals for either on-campus dining or at-home cooking. Existing plans include the basic elements of a “performance plate,” as outlined by the United States Olympic Committee of Sports Dietitians and the University of Colorado (UCCS) (Reguant-Closa et al, 2020 ). It would also be helpful to list examples of options for each food group that can be found in the university dining halls or local grocery store(s).…”

The Feasibility of Using Computrition Software for Nutrition Research—A Pilot Study

“…The use of Computrition software in research studies is limited. Most often, it is used to calculate the nutrient intakes of participants [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. It has also been used in studies to estimate food costs of recipes [ 14 ] or the overall quality of online meal ordering systems [ 15 ].…”