A Glimpse of the Sports Nutrition Awareness in Spanish Basketball Players

Abstract

Basketball is a team sport, with many fans and practitioners worldwide from all ages and levels. In all cases, players accumulate high levels of fatigue, and there is also limited time to recover between games or practices. In particular, nutrition plays a key role in optimizing performance and recovery. However, it is typical to observe erroneous nutritional behaviors among basketball players. It has been theorized that these behaviors are influenced by habits acquired based on the indi-vidual's knowledge. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to conduct a descriptive research of the sports nutrition knowledge and practices in a sample of Spanish basketball players, from athletes under 18 years old (n = 69) to nonprofessional (n = 14) and professional adult players (n = 21). The sample was comprised of 49 men and 55 women. This was a transversal, cross-sectional, observational and descriptive study. All participants (n = 104) completed an anonymous online survey in order to analyze their sports nutrition knowledge and practices. In view of the obtained results, we can conclude that the knowledge of sport-specific nutrition in players under 18 years old, as well as non-professional and professional adult basketball players, is insufficient through all the categories and levels. The lack of professional support and time management difficulties were identified as some of the main barriers.

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Citation: Escribano-Ott, I.;
Mielgo-Ayuso, J.; Calleja-González, J.
A Glimpse of the Sports Nutrition
Awareness in Spanish Basketball
Players. Nutrients 2022,14, 27.
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14010027
Academic Editor: Antoni Sureda
Received: 16 November 2021
Accepted: 21 December 2021
Published: 22 December 2021
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nutrients
Article
A Glimpse of the Sports Nutrition Awareness in Spanish
Basketball Players
Ignacio Escribano-Ott 1, *, Juan Mielgo-Ayuso 2and Julio Calleja-González 1
1Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque
Country, 01007 Vitoria, Spain; julio.calleja.gonzalez@gmail.com
2Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain;
jfmielgo@ubu.es
*Correspondence: iescribano006@ikasle.ehu.es
Abstract:
Basketball is a team sport, with many fans and practitioners worldwide from all ages and
levels. In all cases, players accumulate high levels of fatigue, and there is also limited time to recover
between games or practices. In particular, nutrition plays a key role in optimizing performance and
recovery. However, it is typical to observe erroneous nutritional behaviors among basketball players.
It has been theorized that these behaviors are influenced by habits acquired based on the individual’s
knowledge. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to conduct a descriptive research of the sports
nutrition knowledge and practices in a sample of Spanish basketball players, from athletes under
18 years
old (n= 69) to nonprofessional (n= 14) and professional adult players (n= 21). The sample
was comprised of 49 men and 55 women. This was a transversal, cross-sectional, observational
and descriptive study. All participants (n= 104) completed an anonymous online survey in order
to analyze their sports nutrition knowledge and practices. In view of the obtained results, we can
conclude that the knowledge of sport-specific nutrition in players under 18 years old, as well as
non-professional and professional adult basketball players, is insufficient through all the categories
and levels. The lack of professional support and time management difficulties were identified as
some of the main barriers.
Keywords:
recovery; sports performance; health; nutrition; basketball; sports nutrition; nutritional
knowledge; nutritional behavior; nutritional education
1. Introduction
Basketball is a team sport with many fans and practitioners worldwide [
1
], whose
media impact can be partially explained by the impressive expansion and globalization
phenomena experienced over the last 30 years [
2
]. It is a dynamic and constantly evolving
game that has undergone numerous modifications since James Naismith created it in
1891 [
3
]. The changes introduced during the last decade significantly impacted the game,
morphing it into a faster and more spectacular sport [
4
], and increasing the physical,
psychological and physiological demands on the players [
5
,
6
]. Furthermore, the number
of games played in professional basketball has increased considerably [
7
,
8
]. Given that,
players can accumulate up to 70 games in approximately 34 weeks (FIBA), which implies
up to 3 games per week with less than 72 h of recovery among them [9,10].
As a result of these changes, sports performance scientists have highlighted the need
for a deeper understanding of the game [
11
] and the main demands experienced by the
players [
12
]. Although most existing knowledge refers to men’s basketball [
13
,
14
], there
is also an emerging trend to explore the singularity of female players (hormonal, biolog-
ical and anatomical factors) due to the increased presence of women’s basketball in all
categories and play level [
15
]. In this sense, more studies are needed, especially in the
area of training [
15
]. Regarding youth players, the youngest athletes also face numerous
challenges [
16
,
17
]. From the standpoint of nutrition science, younger athletes, especially
Nutrients 2022,14, 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14010027 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 2 of 15
those participating in high-performance training programs, must cope with physiolog-
ical maturation needs and their athletic development [
18
]. For this reason, the special
demands of the adolescent population have also attracted the interest of the scientific
community [19,20].
In all cases, high levels of fatigue and the limited time to recover between
games [11,12]
have pushed teams to incorporate strategies to accelerate and optimize the recovery pro-
cesses in their plans [21]. In fact, this challenge involves strategies representing a decisive
competitive advantage [9].
Among all these recovery factors, nutrition plays a key role [
22
–
24
], covering the
demands of the game, maintaining physical and psychological performance, and opti-
mizing the athlete’s potential [
25
]. In particular, there is widespread knowledge that
carbohydrates and proteins must be provided with specific timing, quantity and rhythm of
administration [
26
] to enhance recovery [
9
]. Although it is difficult to establish a general
nutritional guide that could suit all players, in a previous review [
4
], we suggested a
theoretical-practical one, covering the key points that should be considered to optimize the
player’s recovery through appropriate diet [
22
]. Despite the availability and accessibility
of this theoretical knowledge to the majority of teams and their coaches, it is common to
observe (in basketball and other team sports) that players still display erroneous behaviors,
attitudes and beliefs [
27
,
28
]. Ultimately, this leads them to make undesirable food choices
that can directly interfere with their performance and health [
29
]. It has been theorized that
this behavior is influenced by the habits acquired based on personal knowledge [
30
]. In
addition, age seems to be a direct factor influencing this choice behavior [
31
]. Although
the scientific literature has previously investigated athletes and coaches’ nutritional knowl-
edge [
24
,
32
,
33
], to the best of the authors’ knowledge, we did not find any previous studies
conducted specifically for basketball, neither longitudinally nor transversally. We also
did not find any previous studies conducted among different ages and categories, from
young to professional players. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to conduct a
descriptive study of the sports nutrition knowledge, practices and perceived barriers, in
Spanish basketball players, from players under 18 years old (U-18) to non-professional
(Non-pro) and professional (Pro) adult players.
2. Materials and Methods
This research was conducted from January to April 2021. All participants (Table 1)
completed an anonymous online questionnaire sent by their coaches, managers or other
players, guaranteeing their confidentiality.
Table 1. Description of the sample.
Category Sub-Category Men Women
U-18 Cadet-Stage 17 25
Junior-Stage 15 12
Non-Pro EBA League 6 -
1st National Feminine - 8
Pro
LEB-2 Silver League 5 -
ACB First League 6 -
Feminine League 2 - 2
Feminine League 1 - 8
TOTAL 49 55
Legend: U-18: player under 18 years old, Non-Pro: non-professional adult player, Pro: professional adult
player, EBA: Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado (Spanish Amateur Basketball League), LEB: Liga Española
de Baloncesto (Spanish Basketball League), ACB: Asociación Clubes profesionales de Baloncesto (Professional
Basketball Clubs Asociation).

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 3 of 15
2.1. Participants
The study sample consisted of 49 men and 55 women of U-18 categories who were
15–16 years
of age (cadet-stage subgroup, n= 32) and 17–18 years of age (junior-stage
subgroup, n= 37) and adult (17; 18). The sample was comprised of 49 men and
55 women
within the adult category, of which 21 played in the highest Spanish competitions (Pro cate-
gory), 10 in women’s leagues (LF1, LF2) and 11 in men’s leagues (ACB First League, LEB-2
Silver League). The remaining senior participants (Non-Pro category) belonged to teams
playing in other federative divisions in Spain, with 8 women in the 1st national feminine di-
vision (3rd Division) and 6 men in the Liga EBA (4th Division). The inclusion criteria were:
(1) players
aged between 15 and 18 years with a Spanish federation license, or if they were
older than 18 years old, to compete in Pro or Non-Pro category (FEB);
(2) participation
in
at least 75% of the annual practice sessions; (3) regular participation in these competitions;
(4) no recent injury (1 month before the beginning of the study);
(5) absence
of drugs at the
time of the study. The following exclusion criteria were established: (1) lack of fluency in
the language in which the questionnaire was delivered (Spanish).
2.2. Ethical Issues
The ethical approval was obtained from those responsible of the clubs and federations
which participated in the study. They were informed of the purpose of the study and its
potential benefits, its methodological nature and the used methodology. This study was
approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research (CEISH) of the University of the
Basque Country (UPV/EHU) with code M10_2020_259 and conducted under the ethical
principles of the Helsinki Declaration (actualization Fortaleza, 2013) [34].
2.3. Study Design
This is a descriptive, cross-sectional and observational study. An ad-hoc questionnaire
was designed to collect the following information: category of play, sex, sports nutrition
knowledge and sports nutrition practices. It consisted of a combination of question using
checkboxes and open-ended responses. Before starting the study, the authors designed a
preliminary draft. In addition, a pilot test was performed by two professional basketball
team (one men’s basketball team and one women’s basketball team) who volunteered
participate, which was not included in the study.
2.4. Data Collection Method
The survey sections consisted of these specific questions:
•
Sports nutrition questionnaire: The questionnaire was previously validated and is
considered a simple yet applicable tool to administer [
35
]. It contains 23 questions
grouped into 6 different sections: (I) nutrients: questions (7 items) about the degree of
agreement on experts’ recommendations and the profile of certain foods according
to their predominant content of a nutrient; (II) hydration: questions (5 items) on
rehydration strategies and the profile of a sports drink; (III) recovery: questions
(5 items) on which foods may represent a suitable choice in terms of quantity and
presence of certain nutrients, as well as the timing of intake; body mass management:
questions on (IV) strategies for healthy weight gain (2 items) and (V) weight loss
(
2 items
); (VI) supplementation: questions (2 items) about the degree of agreement on
experts’ recommendations on supplementation. Each categorical and total knowledge
characteristic was assessed by transforming the results obtained into a scale equivalent
to the school grading system in Spain (https://www.boe.es/eli/es/o/2007/06/19
/eci1845. Last accessed: 21 November 2021), where 0 was the minimum value and 10
the maximum value (Table 1).
•
Sports nutrition practices: A questionnaire was configured to assess the sports nu-
trition practices by adapting the existing questionnaires of Heikura et al. [
36
] and
Altarriba-Bartes et al. [
27
]. It contained a total of 36 items. Depending on the answer
(yes or no), the questionnaire continued to the following question or jumped to the

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 4 of 15
next section, so the total number of questions to be answered could be reduced. Items
were grouped into the following thematic blocks: training adjustment according to
competition objectives (7 items), pre- and post-training nutritional strategies (14 items),
and pre- and post-match nutritional strategies (15 items). Each of these blocks con-
tained questions about the main reasons for adhering or not to the strategies and the
influence of other people on their behaviors to follow the recommendations [
4
]. The
results are presented as arbitrary units (AU) following the grade marks system of
the Spanish Education Ministry (https://www.boe.es/eli/es/o/2007/06/19/eci1845.
Last accessed: 21 November 2021).
2.5. Statistical Analysis
The data were exported from the online survey (Google Forms
®
) to a spreadsheet
(Microsoft
®
Excel for Windows 10). The results are presented as means, standard deviation
(SD) and frequencies. Normal distribution was tested using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test
(n= 104). In addition, the Levene test was used to analyze the previous homoscedasticity of
the data. The comparison of means among independent samples was performed with the
ANOVA test, and Bonferroni post-hoc analyses were conducted to identify the differences
among groups. Categorical variables were analyzed using the Chi-square test, and these
analyses were stratified by level of competition. The effect size, from Cohen’s D, was
considered small when d = 0.20, medium when d = 0.50, and large when d = 0.80 [
37
].
Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association among category-
knowledge-behaviors. The magnitude of the correlation coefficients was determined as
trivial (r < 0.1), small (0.1 < r < 0.3), moderate (0.3 < r < 0.5), high (0.5 < r < 0.7), very
high (0.7 < r < 0.9), nearly perfect (r > 0.9) or perfect (r = 1) [
37
]. In all statistical tests, the
statistical significance level p< 0.05 was used for bilateral contracts. Data analysis was
performed with the statistical package SPSS
®
for Windows version 26.0, SPSS INC, Chicago,
IL, USA) and in the R (1.4 version) programming environment.
3. Results
3.1. Nutritional Knowledge
A total of 104 participants completed a sports nutrition knowledge questionnaire
(Table 2). The following thematic blocks (Figure 1) were analyzed: hydration (U-18:
4.72 AU
vs. Non-pro: 5.79 AU vs. Pro: 5.18 AU: ns), recovery (U-18: 4.19 AU vs. Non-Pro: 5.52 AU
vs. Pro: 4.5 AU: ns), body mass management (U-18: 4.77AU vs. Non-Pro: 5.14 AU vs. Pro:
4.79 AU: ns) and supplementation (U-18: 2.57 AU vs. Non-Pro: 2.53 AU vs. Pro: 3.38 AU:
ns) (Figure 2). With respect to the nutrient (U-18: 5.15 AU vs. Non-Pro: 5.95 AU vs. Pro:
5.12 AU: ns), significant differences in logistic regression were found between categories
(Non-Pro vs. Pro vs. U-18: p= 0.03) with a high effect size (d = 0.82).
3.2. Nutritional Practices and Strategies
To analyze the nutritional practices and behaviors (Table 3), all the participants com-
pleted the same adapted questionnaire used in previous work. The results (Figure 3) show
that 83% of participants did not adjust their nutrition for the work required (U-18: 81.16%
vs. Non-Pro: 78.57% vs. Pro: 76.19%: ns). However, 71.15% of participants (U-18: 66.66%
vs. Non-Pro: 21.42% vs. Pro: 19.04: ns) reported paying attention to their pre-training
nutrition, and 62.5% (U-18: 57.97% vs. Non-Pro: 71.42% vs. Pro: 71.42%: ns) to post-training
nutritional recovery. These frequencies decreased when they were asked about their match-
day practices, where 18.18% of participants reported paying attention to pre-competition
nutrition (U-18: 10.45% vs. Non-Pro: 28.57% vs. Pro: 38.89%: ns) in contrast to 54.81%
(U-18: 46.38% vs. Non-Pro: 35.71% vs. Pro: 47.62%: ns) of those who did so at the end of
the match.

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 5 of 15
Table 2. Sports nutrition knowledge by category, gender and thematic blocks.
Category nNutrients 1Hydration 1Recovery 1Mass
Management 1Supplementation 1Total 1
U-18
Men 32 5.3
(1.97)
5.07
(2)
4.66
(1.63)
4.83
(1)
2.79
(2.18)
4.53
(1,1)
Women 37 5.01
(1.22)
4.41
(1.75)
3.79
(1.69)
4.72
(1.13)
2.38
(2.32)
4.06
(1.15)
Total 69 5.15
(1.61)
4.72
(1.88)
4.19 *
(1.71)
4.77
(1.06)
2.57
(2.25)
2.28
(0.54)
Non-Pro
Men 6 5.6
(1.54)
5.74
(1.48)
4.85
(1.24)
5.22
(0.65)
2.43
(1.79)
4.77
(0.93)
Women 8 6.22
(0.82)
5.83
(1.43)
6.02
(1.53)
5.08
(0.79)
2.62
(2.25)
5.15
(1)
Total 14 5.95
(1.17)
5.79
(1.39)
5.52 *
(1.49)
5.14
(0.71)
2.53
(1.99)
2.43
(0.65)
Pro
Men 11 4.81
(2.11)
4.64
(2.57)
4.05
(2.2)
4.18
(1.93)
2.65
(2.49)
4.07
(2.04)
Women 10 5.48
(1.53)
5.78
(2.33)
5
(1.83)
5.47
(1.25)
4.18
(2.88)
5.18
(1.68)
Total 21 5.12
(1.84)
5.18
(2.47)
4.5
(2.04)
4.79
(1.73)
3.38
(2.73)
2.35
(0.81)
Total
Men 49 5.23
(1.94)
5.06
(2.07)
4.55
(1.72)
4.74
(1.26)
2.71
(2.17)
4.46
(1.34)
Women 55 5.27
(1.29)
4.87
(1.91)
4.33
(1.87)
4.91
(1.13)
2.74
(2.47)
4.43
(1.32)
Total 104 5.25
(1.62)
4.96
(1.98)
4.43
(1.79)
4.83
(1.19)
2.73
(2.32)
4.44
(1.32)
p-value - - 0.221 0.151 0.0386 0.567 0.361 0.151
d Cohen - - - - 0.82 - - -
Legend: SD: values are presented as mean (SD). Standard deviation; d, Cohen’s d (The effect size, from Cohen’s D,
was considered small when d = 0.20, medium when d = 0.50, and large when d = 0.80); normal distribution
1
;
* statistically significant differences among groups (p< 0.05).
Nutrients 2022, 14, 27 5 of 16
Figure 1. Sports nutrition knowledge (thematic blocks). Legend: * statistical significance differ-
ence.
Figure 2. Sports nutrition knowledge (total).
*
Figure 1. Sports nutrition knowledge (thematic blocks). Legend: * statistical significance difference.

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 6 of 15
Nutrients 2022, 14, 27 5 of 16
Figure 1. Sports nutrition knowledge (thematic blocks). Legend: * statistical significance differ-
ence.
Figure 2. Sports nutrition knowledge (total).
*
Figure 2. Sports nutrition knowledge (total).
Table 3. Sports nutrition practices by category, gender and thematic blocks.
Training 1
Adjustment *
Pre 1
Practice
Post 1
Practice
Pre 1
Game
Post 1
Game *
YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO
fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%) fi (%)
U-18 13 (18.84) 56 (81.16) 46 (66.66) 23 (33.33) 40 (57.97) 29 (42.02) 7 (10.45) 60 (89.55) 37 (53.62) 32 (46.38)
Men 9 (28.13) 23 (71.88) 25 (78.12) 7 (21.85) 23 (71.87) 9 (28.12) 4 (13.33) 26 (86.67) 19 (59.38) 13 (40.63)
Women 4 (10.81) 33 (89.19) 21 (56.75) 16 (43.24) 17 (45.94) 20 (54.05) 3 (8.11) 34 (91.89) 18 (48.65) 19 (51.35)
Non-Pro 3 (21.43) 11 (78.57) 11 (78.57) 3 (21.42) 10 (71.42) 4 (28.57) 4 (28.57) 10 (71.43) 9 (64.29) 5 (35.71)
Men 1 (16.67) 5 (83.33) 5 (83.33) 1 (16.66) 5 (83.33) 1 (16.67) 1 (16.67) 5 (83.33) 3 (50) 3 (50)
Women 2 (25) 6 (75) 6 (75) 2 (25) 5 (62.5) 3 (37.5) 3 (37.5) 5 (62.5) 6 (75) 2 (25)
Pro 5 (23.81) 16 (76.19) 17 (80.92) 4 (19.04) 15 (71.42) 6 (28.57) 7 (38.89) 11 (61.11) 11 (52.38) 10 (47.62)
Men 3 (27.27) 8 (72.73) 9 (81.81) 2 (18.18) 8 (72.72) 3 (27.27) 4 (50) 4 (50) 8 (72.73) 3 (27.27)
Women 2 (20) 8 (80) 8 (80) 2 (20) 7 (70) 3 (30) 3 (30) 7 (70) 3 (30) 7 (70)
TOTAL 21 (20.19) 83 (79.81) 74 (71.15) 30 (28.84) 65 (62.5) 39 (37.5) 18 (18.18) 81 (81.82) 57 (54.81) 47 (45.19)
Men 13 (26.53) 36 (73.47) 39 (79.59) 10 (20.40) 36 (73.46) 13 (26.53) 9 (20.45) 35 (79.55) 30 (61.22) 19 (38.78)
Women 8 (14.55) 47 (85.45) 35 (63.63) 20 (36.36) 29 (52.72) 26 (47.27) 9 (16.36) 46 (83.64) 27 (49.09) 28 (50.91)
Chi
square 0.877 0.362 0.408 0.362 0.817
Legend: frequency (fi); normal distribution 1; * statistically significant differences (p< 0.05).
3.3. Perceived Barriers
Although the correlation magnitude was small (r = 0.241), we found a positive asso-
ciation between knowledge levels and adherence to the practices recommended by the
experts (p= 0.035; r = 0.207; small), and a better fit to these as the categories became more
professional (p= 0.14; r = 0.241; small).

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 7 of 15
Nutrients 2022, 14, 27 7 of 16
Figure 3. Sports nutrition practices. This figure compares the percentage of players following or not following the nutritional practices.
Figure 3. Sports nutrition practices. This figure compares the percentage of players following or not following the nutritional practices.

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 8 of 15
4. Discussion
This descriptive research aimed to describe the nutritional knowledge, behaviors,
practices and perceived barriers of basketball players of different categories and levels. In
view of the results obtained in this study, we can conclude that sports nutrition knowledge
is insufficient among basketball players of all levels and ages, resulting in inadequate eating
practices. In addition, there are barriers, such as lack of professional support and time
management difficulties, that make it difficult for players to optimize their nutrition.
4.1. Nutritional Knowledge and Practical Management of Nutrients
Sports nutrition is a rapidly growing and evolving science [
38
]. There is a strong
agreement that nutrients play a key role in the acute, adaptive and chronic response
to exercise, and the availability and functioning of energy systems [
22
,
38
]. Moreover,
the type of nutrient, knowledge and management of the timing and amount of intake
is critical [
39
]. Likewise, sports nutrition must respond to the specific mechanisms that
generate fatigue [
4
] and the fatigue profiles generated by each playing position, particularly
in team sports [
40
]. In this sense, our study found no significant differences in the theoretical
knowledge of nutrients among categories, obtaining an average score for the 3 groups
of 5.25 out of 10 maximum total points. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this
is the first study that specifically addresses this variable in basketball while including
professional players. These scores follow the direction of work conducted in other sports
disciplines, where other athletes also scored similarly [
24
,
41
–
43
]. In addition to describing
knowledge, our description also addressed the practical handling of knowledge by the
athletes. Adjusting the availability and supply of nutrients, especially carbohydrates, to the
daily demands is an aspect that has generated great interest inside the specialized scientific
community [
39
,
44
,
45
], highlighting the need not to adopt nutritional practices exclusively
oriented toward competition [
46
]. Our study found significant differences between those
who did adjust their diet according to training, with the group of athletes who did not do
so being larger (YES: 20.19% vs. NO: 79.81%). This fact highlights that, despite the brief
time since theoretical knowledge on nutritional periodization has emerged [
47
–
49
], only in
very specific cases, such as those recorded by Heikura in 2018 [
36
], is it being transferred
to practice. In this sense, future research lines could explore which characteristics are
fundamental to adjust nutritional periodization [
46
] to each sporting context or the main
barriers that limit the transfer of this theoretical knowledge to field practice, particularly in
basketball and team sports.
4.2. Nutritional Knowledge and Practical Management of Supplementation Strategies
Sports supplements are becoming increasingly popular among athletes, with a broad
and accessible range of products available [
23
]. The research conducted by our research
group found that some sports supplements could be of interest for health [
50
], while others,
due to their proven ergogenic effect, could be beneficial for sports performance [
51
–
53
].
The availability of complex supplementation makes it necessary for the basketball players
to tailor their supplementation menus individually [
54
], selecting those that are genuinely
beneficial for their practice [
4
], and considering their own individual parameters based
on their feels and preferences [
55
]. Particularly important are those related to the sex
variable, since most of the published studies have been performed among men [
51
], and
exhaustive research is needed on the female population that considers their physiological
peculiarities, mainly hormonal [
52
]. To accurately apply these strategies, it is necessary for
players to have sufficient knowledge that will allow them to optimize their performance
and protect their health and enlarge their sporting careers [
56
]. In that way, our research
has shown that basketball players’ knowledge about sports supplementation does not
reach the “pass” category, registering a value of 2.73 out of a maximum value of 10. These
records were repeated in the three analyzed categories (U-18: 2.57 vs. Non-Pro: 2.53 vs.
Pro: 2.74). In particular, in the case of the U-18 category, these scores could be justified
because, initially, this group should not require their use, as a varied, balanced diet that

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 9 of 15
adheres to a Mediterranean style could theoretically be sufficient [
57
,
58
]. However, Chiba
et al. [
59
] found that as young people progress in their development, their consumption
of nutritional supplements also increases. Most of the time, supplements are incorrectly
used, so early educational interventions [
59
] could be a measure of interest. Regarding
the senior population (Non-Pro and Pro), our results are in line with other similar studies
that have found that athletes present have a low level of knowledge [
25
,
60
] or that they are
unaware of the need for an independent laboratory to guarantee the purity and safety of a
product [
61
,
62
]. This lack of know-how demonstrates how exposed athletes are to brands’
promises of product improvements [
54
], and how they cannot protect themselves from
these attractive messages by asking basic questions about the safety, efficacy or risks of
using them [63].
4.3. Nutritional Knowledge and Practical Management of Hydration Strategies
One factor that directly affects the onset of fatigue is dehydration [
4
,
64
], so it is
essential to achieve a homeostatic balance between fluid losses and exogenous fluid
replacement [64,65]
. Hydration plays a vital role in reducing explosive performance during
basketball competition [
66
] and should be a key focus on recovery strategies. On the other
hand, very high or sustained losses over time, in addition to negatively affecting athletic
performance, can put health at serious risk. Therefore, a widely accepted rehydration
strategy is to ingest an amount of fluid equivalent to twice the weight lost [
22
–
65
]. How-
ever, adult players showed better knowledge about hydration management (U18: 4.72 AU
vs. Non-Pro: 5.79 AU vs. Pro: 5.18 AU). Despite that finding, we did not find significant
differences when comparing their practices to U-18’s. This lack of theoretical knowledge
could also be reflected in subsequent hydration behavior, as has been described in other
studies [
66
,
67
]. It is difficult to establish a relationship that could explain these differences.
It may be theorized that older players could have received a greater number of messages
about the importance of following adequate hydration. In the last two decades, hydra-
tion has been a subject widely addressed by the scientific community [
68
]. Consequently,
transferring and communicating these recommendations into practice is relatively easy for
coaches [69].
4.4. Nutritional Knowledge and Practical Handling for Body Mass Management
Basketball players’ bodies are large and strong regardless of their play position [
70
–
74
],
so their diet must provide enough nutrients and energy to maintain adequate levels of
fat and muscle [
73
]. Our study found no significant differences by category, recording a
mean value of 4.83 AU (U-18: 4.77 AU vs. Non-Pro: 5.14 vs. Pro: 4.79) with 10 being the
maximum possible. This lack of knowledge about the management of body composition
could be related to an inadequate diet that does not comply, either by excess or deficiency,
with the experts’ recommendations [
75
,
76
]. In the case of female basketball players, there
is a profound need to understand precisely which nutritional strategies are the most
appropriate to achieve optimal body composition. Their specific hormonal profile, as well
as the fluctuations that occurs during the menstrual cycle [
77
], mean that physiological
complications derived from a prolonged state of energy efficiency can place their health at
risk [78].
4.5. Nutritional Knowledge and Practical Handling of Recovery Strategies
The organic and psychological recovery of the athlete is a task that requires high
precision and individualization [
21
], and depends directly on the complex, interconnected
and specific dimensions of each sport [
9
,
79
–
81
]. Among these tasks, nutrition plays a
determining role in accelerating and optimizing recovery [
82
,
83
]. It is one of the main
methods used by teams [
82
], although this knowledge needs to be further expanded to
design specific strategies for the female population [
84
]. Our study found significant
differences in knowledge related to nutritional recovery strategies between younger and
adult players (p= 0.03). This may be due to a better perception by the players themselves

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 10 of 15
or their teams of the need to recover more quickly and efficiently [
4
,
5
], and thus cope with
the demands of training and matches. Alternatively, this knowledge may be attributed
to structures where nutritional recovery practices are imposed by the sporting structure
itself [
27
]. In contrast, Bird and Rushton [
85
] observed in a recent study that the mean value
of this knowledge did not reach the cut-off of 5 out of 10 players (U-18: 4.19 AU vs. Non-Pro:
5.52 vs. Pro: 4.5 AU). Therefore, in addition to facilitating and promoting practical access
to nutritional recovery methods [
4
], these could be accompanied by training strategies that
would give them greater autonomy, positively impacting their performance and lives [
55
].
In addition to describing their knowledge, we also analyzed their nutritional practices
in training and matches in our study. These practices have a direct impact on recovery,
completing it and reaching a state of optimal preparation before exercise or starting the
recovery process itself [
86
]. Although their knowledge reflected a lack of mastery of
sport-specific recommendations, in their behavior, they reported paying attention to their
nutrition before (YES: 71.15% vs. NO: 28.84%) and after (YES: 62.5% vs. NO: 37.5%) training.
With this finding, it could be theorized that over and above the recommendations based
on scientific evidence, athletes’ behavior is more influenced by their perception of how
easy it is to carry out these strategies [
87
], or the sense of individual well-being that they
generate [55].
4.6. Perceived Barriers to Nutritional Knowledge and Practices
Lack of professional support, difficulties in time management, and lack of knowledge
are some of the main barriers perceived by athletes and coaches, which, in addition to
compromising their performance, expose them to numerous agents that put their protection
at risk [
88
]. These difficulties coincide with those found in our research, where the lack
of knowledge offered by a professional was recorded as a common variable in all age
categories for pre-match (U-18: 35% vs. Non-Pro: 40% vs. Pro: 36.36%) and post-match
(U-18: 64.52% vs. Non-Pro: 40% vs. Pro: 44.44%) practices. On the other hand, time
management depending on the residence situation was observed as a predominant barrier
in the professional (Pro) category (PRE: 25% vs. POST: 33.33%). These results are in line
with those obtained by Sekulic et al. (2019), where athletes also reported insufficient
knowledge of recommended practices. Our results point in the same direction, as we found
a positive association between the levels of knowledge and adherence to the practices
recommended by the experts (p= 0.035), and a better adjustment to these as they scale the
categories (p= 0.14). Thus, it seems essential that clubs and federations make the assistance
of a professional nutritionist available to players. A professional nutritionist could help
players and coordinate their personal circumstances [
89
] with those based on the nutritional
demands of basketball [90].
5. Conclusions
In view of the obtained results, we can conclude that the sports nutrition knowledge
and practices in this sample of Spanish Basketball Players, from U-18 to non-professional
(Non-Pro) and professional (Pro) adult players, is insufficient and inadequate, which may
compromise their performance and health. In addition, the lack of professional support,
time management difficulties and lack of knowledge were identified as some of the main
barriers that may prevent basketball players from developing healthy behaviors in line
with expert’s recommendations.
6. Limitations, Strengths and Future Lines of Research
This study presents some limitations. First, the sample size is relatively limited in
comparison with the absolute number of basketball licenses in the Spanish Basketball
leagues. Nonetheless, this work represents a framework that can be expand in future
research lines in a larger sample. Future research may also include the role of coaches,
families and other social agents that could influence players’ nutritional knowledge and

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 11 of 15
behaviors. In addition, future research may analyze specific age-groups or categories as
Altarriba did [27], or could group players by gender.
The second limitation is that the questionnaires were completed by the players them-
selves. Future studies may include the questionnaire as a part of a nutritional intervention
designed to improve this knowledge and players’ behaviors.
Finally, this study was conducted during a global pandemic.
7. Practical Application
Based on the findings, our research team has proposed some ideas that could help to
build bridges between the theoretical knowledge and players’ practices.
7.1. Nutritional Education Strategies to Increase Knowledge
The dietary education of athletes is a key aspect that can promote appropriate eating
behavior, with adolescence being an ideal time for its development. Although many pos-
sible interventions can be carried out, most of which are sufficient to achieve a positive
impact, short interventions at specific times of the season (training camps, technical im-
provement, pre- and post-season) using new technologies (such as mobile applications)
could be a strategy that could quickly increase the knowledge of nutrition. It could also
be beneficial for coaches and technical staff to participate in this training due to the high
impact that their behaviors and nutritional knowledge have on athletes.
7.2. Quick Applied Ideas to Boost Nutritional Practices
Facilitating practical solutions through popular forms of communication and making
them visible in training areas or providing them directly to players could be an effective
strategy to provide visual examples that can be quickly assimilated and implemented.
These designs could show: (1) foods, preparations or menus that integrate the amount and
type of nutrients needed for basketball practice, as well as when to take them; (2) hydration
strategies through foods with a high hydration index, as well as ways to evaluate and
measure their degree of dehydration and rehydration rate; (3) diagrams that help players
decide and choose whether to follow a supplementation pattern as well as facilitating the
ways to consult about the safety of a product; (4) specific infographics.
Author Contributions:
I.E.-O. conceived and designed the research, analyzed and interpreted the
data, and wrote the article. J.C.-G. and J.M.-A. supervised the process and critically reviewed the
article and approved the final version submitted for publication. All authors have read and agreed to
the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: The authors declare that they have no sources of funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement:
The Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Sub-
jects (CEISH) of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) approved this study in accordance
with the Declaration of Helsinki, with code M10_2020_259.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available within the article.
Acknowledgments:
The authors would like to thank the managers, coaches and players who partici-
pated in the study and collaborated in its dissemination. We would also like to thank the Vice-rectorate
of Research of the University of the Basque Country for authorizing the implementation of this project
(M10_2020_259), and the lecturers of the Master’s Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences of
the same university, who have contributed with their advice and considerations.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Nutrients 2022,14, 27 12 of 15
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