Women’s sport is improving every year and as the elite level athletes create more history - just how important is diet and nutrition when they are developing into young women.
We spoke to a former lioness and an elite level performance nutritionist to find out more.
We spoke to a former lioness and an elite level performance nutritionist to find out more.
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00:00 New research shows girls could be at risk of diet deficiencies which could affect their
00:06 long-term health and sporting performance. It found that many teenage girls are already
00:11 deficient in key nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium and iodine, with reduced red meat
00:17 and animal milk consumption seen as largely to blame. And with more girls taking part
00:22 in sports, they will require foods rich in calcium and iron to ensure their bodies are
00:27 fuelled to get the most out of the sport. I sat down with football coach and former
00:32 England defender Anita Asante to discuss the importance of a balanced diet in women's sport.
00:39 From this research, they found that teenage girls were having restrictive diets because
00:44 of the misconceptions around having dairy, produce or meat, related to feeling like,
00:52 oh you know, I might get too fat and things like that, where in fact we know having a
00:59 balanced diet is really important. Making her England debut in 2004, Anita has been
01:05 involved within women's football for over 20 years. I wanted to find out how much the
01:10 importance of diet in female sport has changed in her time as an athlete. And you know, I've
01:16 been a benefactor of having a balanced diet throughout my playing career that has allowed
01:23 me to compete and to give myself energy. I've also, you know, been a player and an individual
01:29 that has had low iron, for example. So boosting iron efficiency through having a balanced,
01:37 you know, nutritious diet was extremely important for me. So I think that's the difference now.
01:43 There are more campaigns out there raising awareness and educating young people.
01:47 Dr James Moorhen is a performance nutritionist who works with elite level athletes and understands
01:54 the nutritional requirements of female footballers. From working with the Lionesses, James gave
02:00 his experience on diet at the elite level and touched on how close we now see men and
02:05 women's sport with the way they view an important diet.
02:10 If you look back at the literature and the research, there's a crazy stat, something
02:14 like 96% of the participants are men. And so at the moment, you know, we can't really
02:21 say confidently that yes, you know, a female football player for England should be following
02:28 a different diet to a male football player in England. What we do say is that they are
02:33 both professional football players. And we know from the literature that if you're a
02:38 football player playing at this level, this is the nutritional intake you're going to
02:42 need to be able to perform.
02:45 There you have it. The importance of a diet with improved iron and calcium in young female
02:50 athletes could be the difference between not having the energy to play or becoming a record
02:55 breaking and successful female athlete over a long career.
02:59 [ Silence ]