Adherence to 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and Association With Diet Quality in Multi-Disciplinary Football Team Staff

This study investigates the relationship between adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines and diet quality among professional football sports staff, addressing the challenges posed by irregular schedules, travel and high-pressure environments. The aim is to determine whether staff meet the health recommendations they advocate for players and to inform strategies that enhance their health and performance. Using an observational and cross-sectional research design, the study will collect data on physical activity according to the Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines to assess adherence, and the validated Mini-EAT dietary screening tool to evaluate diet quality. The dependent variables include factors such as physical activity levels moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), sedentary time, sleep quality and consistency, strength training, sedentary breaks, and screen time usage. Diet quality is assessed through the frequency of intake of various food groups (e.g., fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, dairy, and sweets) and summarised with an overall diet quality score. There is a minimum of 229 participants required and the questionnaire will be distributed to individuals with confirmed employment of football staff, football clubs and universities with football teams. Statistical analyses will include descriptive statistics to summarise participant characteristics, adherence levels, and diet quality scores, MANOVA, Shapiro-Wilk to assess normality, with Pearson's or Spearman's correlations (depending on normality distribution) to examine associations between adherence scores and diet quality. Chi-square tests will identify relationships between categorical adherence levels and diet quality. These findings will inform targeted interventions to improve health outcomes for football staff, enabling them to better support players while maintaining their own performance. The proposed start date of the study is January 2025.