Introduction: Lack of time, management support, insufficient facilitates, workload balance, and culture are often reported as common barriers to physical activity (PA) participation in the workplace. In comparison, identifying facilitators of PA in the workplace are scarce. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to overcoming the barriers may also be unsuccessful within university settings where multidisciplinary workforce exists due to the heterogeneity nature of job roles. Thus, the aim of this study was to understand the perceived barriers and facilitators of PA of university employees who were classified as active or inactive based on their job roles. Methods: Forty-one employees (female = 17; male = 24) participated in focus groups to discuss their perceived barriers and facilitators to PA in the workplace. Participants were categorised based on their PA levels as active and inactive prior analysing the semi-structured focus groups data via using thematic analysis. Results and Discussion: The results showed that a lack of time was reported by 80% of the participants as a barrier to PA, including 63% inactive and 17% of the active participants. This included 27% administrators’ staff, 23% academics, 19% senior management, and 11% professional service staff. Over 75% participants reported a lack of management support as one of the perceived barriers to their PA engagement in the workplace. Approximately 58% also reported workplace culture as a barrier to PA participation. Open access to a gym on campus was perceived to be the main facilitator to engaging in PA in the future. Similarly, increased management support for engaging in PA and having flexibility during working days were perceived as facilitators for PA engagement and a way to reduced sedentary behaviour in the workplace. Conclusions: These findings contribute to the limited literature in terms of evaluating obstacles and facilitators of university employees to encourage engagement with PA in the workplace. These findings can be applied to form PA, health, and wellbeing-related interventions specifically targeting these identified barriers that are experienced in the workplace and thereby potentially reducing absenteeism and increasing productivity.

Purpose: As players in high performance youth soccer (HYPS) environments undergo large changes in growth and maturation throughout the course of their development, they require specific nutritional intakes if they are to meet these demands. The purpose of this review was to synthesise current nutritional research conducted within HYPS players.Methods: A systematic approach, following PRISMA guidelines, was employed to capture all articles related to nutrition within HPYS using the databases MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed using a Downs and Black instrument. Observational and intervention studies which investigated an element of nutritional status, knowledge, or intervention in academy aged players (U9 to U23s) within HPYS settings were included.Results: Fifty-three articles qualified assessing: current nutritional intake and energy balance (n = 21); ergogenic aids/supplements (n = 13); hydration status (n = 6); the influence of Ramadan fasting (n = 4); Vitamin D status (n = 4); female HPYS players (n = 3); nutrition knowledge (n = 2). Outcomes demonstrate a large proportion of HPYS players exhibit insufficient energy and carbohydrate intake, and a lack sufficient periodisation of nutrition to account for varying training/match loads. Large variability in energy intake and expenditure exists between and within chronological age groups, indicating the potential impact on growth and maturation. Female HPYS data is lacking but indicates similar trends to male counterparts.Conclusion: HYPS players do not currently meet their energy requirements however the impact of growth and maturation is not fully understood. Furthermore, within this demographic future research is required into the barriers and enablers of players achieving adequate energy intake.

The importance of nutrition in optimizing the health and performance of professional soccer players has been well established. Despite published practical recommendations for the dietary requirements for professional soccer players, many players fail to meet these guidelines. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to assess the impact of targeted nutritional education and behavior change interventions on dietary intake in professional football players. Additionally, previous research within this population has reported elevations in resting metabolic rate (RMR) following match-play. Therefore, a further aim of this study was to examine whether any changes in dietary intake would influence RMR following match-play. Twenty players from the professional development phase in an English Premier League club (age: 18.4 ± 1.0 years; body mass: 76.1 ± 6.0 kg; stature: 1.80 ± 0.07 m) were randomly assigned to an "Intervention" (INT) group (n = 10), who received numerous nutritional education and behavior change interventions, or a "Control" (CON) group (n = 10), who received no nutrition support. Dietary intake was assessed daily throughout the match-week (Match Day (MD)-2, MD-1, MD, MD + 1, and MD + 2), whilst RMR was assessed on MD-1, MD + 1, and MD + 2. Statistical analyses on the intervention effects on dietary intake and RMR were carried out using a two factor (group and day) analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a subsequent Bonferroni post-hoc test. Mean energy (3393 ± 852 vs. 2572 ± 577 kcal · day^-1) and CHO (5.36 ± 1.9 vs. 3.47 ± 1.1 g · kg^-1 BW · day^-1) intake was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the INT vs. CON group. Furthermore, the INT group implemented nutrition periodization practices as CHO intake was significantly increased on MD-1 (7.0 ± 1.7 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1), MD (7.1 ± 1.4 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1) and MD + 1 (5.1 ± 0.8 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1). However, the CON group did not periodize their CHO intake and failed to meet the CHO recommendations on MD-1, MD, and MD + 1 (<4 g · kg^-1 BM · day^-1). Compared to MD-1, the RMR increased on MD + 1 and MD + 2 in both groups, although it was only statistically significant for the INT group (MD + 1 = +243 kcal · day^-1; MD + 2 = +179 kcal · day^-1). The implementation of targeted nutritional education and behavior change interventions resulted in improved dietary practices in professional football players and enabled better adherence to recommended guidelines. However, despite this, RMR was still elevated in the 24-48 h following match play. Thus, in order to optimize recovery, this finding further reinforces the need for professional football players to adopt strategies to meet energy, and particularly CHO, requirements in the acute period following a match in order to account for this increase in energy requirement.

Front-of-pack (FoP) traffic light nutrition labelling has been widely proposed as a tool to improve public health nutrition. Current evidence suggests that whilst consumers generally find them to be useful and an important source of information about a particular food or ingredient, this may have limited value in isolation when considering a person’s overall nutritional intake. This study sought to examine UK consumers’ use of existing FoP traffic light food labelling and ascertain public perception of a novel ‘till-receipt’ summary providing nutritional information about consumers entire shopping purchases. In total, 237 respondents completed an online questionnaire between May and June 2016. Almost two-thirds were female (n = 152, 64.1%) and the largest proportion of responses were received from those aged 25–32 years (n = 53, 22.4%) and 41–50 years (n = 53, 22.4%). About 83.5% of respondents suggested that they currently use traffic light information to inform their food purchases and ‘health’ was reported as the most important factor influencing food choice (42.2%; n = 100). Notably, 54.4% of respondents indicated that the novel till-receipt system could provide a solution to the potential limitations of existing FoP labelling and could help inform healthier food purchases. Our findings strengthen the existing evidence base to suggest that traffic light information is a useful tool to aid consumer food purchases. Moreover, our outcomes propose that consumers may benefit from a new receipt-based traffic light system which provides a more holistic summary of their entire food purchases.

Long-term athlete development is a primary focus for the England Rugby Football Union (RFU). The purpose of this study was to explore the anthropometric, physical, and relative age characteristics of rugby union academy players based on age group and playing position. Seventy-eight participants were examined for height, body mass, 10 and 20 m sprint, countermovement jump, reactive strength index, aerobic capacity, isometric hip extension, dominant handgrip strength, and birth quartile (BQ) across three age categories (i.e., under-16, under-18, and under-21) and two positions (forwards and backs). ANOVA and Kruskall–Wallis analysis were used to examine differences across each age category and position. TukeyHSD and Dunn’s test with Bonferroni correction was used for further post-hoc analysis. BQ distributions were compared against national norms using chi-square analysis. Results revealed that both older forwards (P=0.005) and backs (P=0.002) had significantly greater body mass, maximal aerobic capacity, and power compared to younger players. However, older forwards had slower 10 m sprint times compared to younger forwards. Moreover, relatively older players were significantly overrepresented across all age groups when compared to relatively younger players. Findings suggest that: (a) players should aim to develop greater parameters of body mass and aerobic capacity; (b) forwards should aim to develop acceleration and strength; (c) backs should aim to develop power and quickness; (d) players need to develop anthropometric and physical qualities and differences are apparent by age and position; and, (e) coaches should consider relative age when recruiting and developing young players. Key words: Talent identification; Talent development; Expertise; Physical development; Physiological profile; Rugby football