ArticleSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2025
Professional Male Soccer Players' Perspectives of the Nutrition Culture Within an English Premier League Football Club: A Qualitative Exploration Using Bourdieu's Concepts of Habitus, Capital and Field.
Article in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Ultra-processed Foods and Athletes: Current Insights on Classification, Use, Awareness, and Impact-A Narrative Review.Sports medicine - open · 2026Review
- The Rules of the Game: Towards a Theory of Practice for Performance Nutritionists in Professional Soccer Using Bourdieu's Concepts of Habitus, Capital and Field.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Nutrition as a missing piece in the development of youth male soccer players: a scoping review and future directions.Biology of sport · 2026Review
- Caregivers nutrition knowledge and perspectives on the enablers and barriers to nutrition provision for male academy football players.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025Article
- Global Research Trends in Sports Nutrition and Football over the Last 20 Years (2004-2024).Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Fueling Soccer Players: A Scoping Review and Audit of Literature Related to Soccer-Specific Guidelines for Carbohydrate Intake.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- A tale of be(com)ing a Sport Nutritionist: Reflexive insights from a researcher-practitioner entering the field.PloS one · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimProfessional soccer players' self-reported dietary intakes often do not meet recommended sport nutrition guidelines. Although behaviour change models have previously explored barriers and enablers to nutritional adherence, the cultural factors influencing players' nutritional habits also warrant investigation. Accordingly, we aimed to explore players' perceptions of the nutrition culture within the professional soccer environment.
methodsAn interpretivist paradigm, which emphasises that reality is subjectively and socially constructed, underpins this study. Qualitative, face-to-face semi-structured interviews (comprising open-ended questions) were conducted with purposively sampled male soccer players from the English Premier League (EPL) (five British, five migrant; mean age: 26 ± 6 years; mean EPL appearances: 106 ± 129). Data were abductively analysed using thematic analysis according to Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, capital, field and doxa practices.
resultsThis study revealed five key themes: (1) players' habitus, as shaped by familial, ethnic and religious backgrounds, influences their dietary habits; (2) social capital, via managers (head coaches), teammates and online influences, impact players' dietary practices; (3) the increase in both soccer clubs' and players' economic capitals has advanced nutrition provision; (4) an unequal distribution of economic capitals has led to hierarchical practice in the performance nutrition field with personalised nutrition being somewhat enacted at the higher levels; and (5) body composition measurement is a 'doxic' practice in professional soccer that warrants challenge.
conclusionsSoccer players' habitual nutritional practices are influenced by personal upbringing and the club context, including economic resources and social capital from managers. The performance nutrition field within professional soccer is also shaped by stakeholders' doxic beliefs surrounding the perceived optimal body composition of players, with managers exerting social capital.
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