Athlete nutrition spans everyday meals, sports-food adoption, supplement habits, food access, body-composition goals and event-specific fueling. The statistics below cover NCAA athletes in the United States, highly trained Portuguese athletes and 2022 IOC heat guidance; survey results and recommendations are not interchangeable population averages.
Key Athlete Nutrition Statistics
The most quotable findings across the available athlete nutrition data are:
- 45.2% of 557 NCAA Division I athletes at two Southern California universities used at least one dietary supplement at least twice weekly during the prior year surveyed.
- 25.5% of those 557 NCAA Division I athletes reported vitamin or mineral supplement use during the study’s survey period.
- 24.6% of those 557 NCAA Division I athletes reported protein or amino-acid supplement use during the study’s survey period.
- 100% of 125 NCAA Division I respondents consumed at least one sports-food product in the prior 12 months at the time of the survey.
- 94% of those 125 respondents used sports drinks in the prior 12 months.
- 90% of those 125 respondents used recovery drinks in the prior 12 months.
- 89% of those 125 respondents used energy bars in the prior 12 months.
- 92% of NCAA Division I respondents cited a dietitian or nutritionist as an influence on dietary choices during the survey period.
- 72% of 2023 NCAA men’s baseball athletes reported making an effort to eat at least three meals a day.
- 80% of 2023 NCAA women’s ice-hockey athletes reported making an effort to eat fruits and vegetables each day.
- 22% of 2023 NCAA women’s softball athletes said healthy food options were readily available after practice or competition.
- 37% of 2023 NCAA women’s softball athletes said they could afford healthy meals each day.
- 43% of NCAA Division I men’s-sports participants were trying to gain weight in 2023, compared with 31% of women’s-sports participants.
- 26% of NCAA Division I women’s-sports participants were trying to lose weight in 2023, compared with 17% of men’s-sports participants.
- 38% of NCAA men’s-sports participants reported no use of listed dietary-supplement items in 2023, compared with 21% of women’s-sports participants.
- 30–60 g of carbohydrate per hour is the 2022 IOC heat-consensus guidance for exercise lasting more than one hour.
- Postexercise rehydration guidance recommends replacing 100%–120% of body-mass losses after exercise, according to the 2022 IOC heat consensus.
- 22% of highly trained Portuguese female athletes were below protein recommendations during the competitive phase, compared with 2% of males.
Contents
- Supplement use and sports-food adoption
- Daily meals, fruit and vegetables
- Healthy-food access, affordability and time
- Weight goals and body-composition perceptions
- Sport, sex and supplement differences
- Carbohydrates, protein and hydration targets
Athlete Nutrition Statistics: Supplement Use and Sports-Food Adoption
A study of 557 NCAA Division I athletes at two Southern California universities measured habitual supplement use as consumption on at least two days per week during the prior year. It found that 45.2% used at least one supplement, while 25.5% used vitamin or mineral products and 24.6% used protein or amino-acid products.
The study was cross-sectional and self-reported, so it is not nationally representative.
The same study reported multiple-product use among supplement users. Seven percent reported using more than three supplements and 3.6% more than four; categories overlap, and users reported an average of 2.3 supplements, ranging from one to 13 products.
Source: An investigation of habitual dietary supplement use among 557 NCAA Division I athletes.
A separate NCAA Division I survey examined sports-food consumption among 125 usable respondents. All 125 reported consuming at least one sports-food product in the prior 12 months, with products supplied by the athletic department; the result therefore describes this survey group rather than all collegiate athletes.
| Sports-food product | Users among 125 respondents | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Sports drinks | 94% | Prior 12 months at survey |
| Recovery drinks | 90% | Prior 12 months at survey |
| Energy bars | 89% | Prior 12 months at survey |
Source: Third-Party Testing Nutritional Supplement Knowledge, Attitudes, and Use Among an NCAA I Collegiate Student-Athlete Population. The sports-food figures are self-reported.
The same 125-respondent survey shows who athletes said influenced dietary choices: dietitians or nutritionists were cited by 92%, athletic trainers by 64%, personal trainers by 48%, physicians by 45% and coaches by 43%. These are reported influences, not measures of advice quality or causation.
Athlete Nutrition Data on Daily Meals, Fruit and Vegetables
The NCAA’s 2023 report uses top-two agreement on a six-point response scale for several food-behavior statements. The figures below are sport-specific survey estimates, and sport sample sizes vary.
| Population and sport | At least three meals daily | Fruits and vegetables daily |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s baseball | 72% | Not supplied |
| Men’s ice hockey | 72% | 72% |
| Men’s lacrosse | 56% | Not supplied |
| Men’s golf | Not supplied | 51% |
| Women’s rowing | 64% | Not supplied |
| Women’s softball | 40% | 53% |
| Women’s ice hockey | Not supplied | 80% |
Source: Change in Dietary Supplement Use, 2017 to 2023. These percentages indicate endorsement of an effort or statement, not independently observed meal or produce intake.
The spread across sports is material within this NCAA sample. For example, 72% of men’s baseball athletes and 72% of men’s ice-hockey athletes reported making an effort to eat at least three meals daily, compared with 40% of women’s softball athletes; daily fruit-and-vegetable efforts ranged from 51% among men’s golfers to 80% among women’s ice-hockey athletes.
Athlete Nutrition Statistics on Healthy-Food Access, Affordability and Time
Food access is part of athlete nutrition because availability, price and schedule can shape whether recommended meals are practical. The 2023 NCAA figures below are perceptions reported by selected sports, not audited food-service or household-budget measures.
| Population and sport | Healthy options available after practice or competition | Could afford healthy meals daily | Had time for healthy meals daily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s wrestling | 53% | Not supplied | 57% |
| Men’s soccer | 36% | Not supplied | Not supplied |
| Men’s golf | Not supplied | 58% | Not supplied |
| Men’s football | Not supplied | 46% | Not supplied |
| Women’s gymnastics | 55% | 61% | 42% |
| Women’s softball | 22% | 37% | 22% |
Source: Change in Dietary Supplement Use, 2017 to 2023.
Among the listed examples, women’s softball had the lowest reported level for each supplied dimension: 22% said healthy options were readily available after practice or competition, 37% said they could afford healthy meals daily and 22% said they had time to eat healthy meals daily. These results are not a ranking of every NCAA sport, because the dataset supplies selected sport-specific observations.
Athlete Nutrition Trends in Weight Goals and Body Composition
Weight goals differ by NCAA Division I men’s and women’s sports participants, but the survey measures intentions and perceptions rather than achieved changes in body mass or performance. In 2023, 43% of men’s-sports participants reported trying to gain weight and 17% trying to lose weight; among women’s-sports participants, 31% reported trying to gain weight and 26% trying to lose weight.
| NCAA Division I population, 2023 | Trying to gain weight | Trying to lose weight |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s-sports participants | 43% | 17% |
| Women’s-sports participants | 31% | 26% |
Source: Change in Dietary Supplement Use, 2017 to 2023. Weight goals were self-reported.
Sport-relative body-weight perceptions also differed by sex. Twenty-one percent of men’s-sports participants described themselves as slightly or very overweight for their sport, compared with 10% of women’s-sports participants; 21% of men’s-sports participants described themselves as slightly or very underweight, compared with 11% of women’s-sports participants.
Other 2023 statements show that body image and diet attitudes vary by sport. Among men’s track-and-field athletes, 69% agreed they were happy with their current weight, versus 43% among women’s track-and-field athletes; 69% of men’s ice-hockey athletes agreed they generally try to have a healthy diet, while 73% of women’s rowers agreed with that statement.
Athlete Nutrition Statistics by Sport and Sex
The 2023 NCAA report also records supplement non-use and appearance-related statements. Among NCAA men’s-sports participants, 38% reported no use of the listed dietary-supplement items in the prior year, compared with 21% of women’s-sports participants; the questionnaire excluded products that were not listed.
Sport-specific appearance responses were wide-ranging. Fifty-five percent of women’s track-and-field athletes agreed they liked what they looked like in pictures, compared with 69% of men’s basketball athletes and 28% of women’s gymnasts.
These are top-two agreement results on a six-point scale, not clinical body-image measures.
Source: Change in Dietary Supplement Use, 2017 to 2023.
The sex and sport differences should be read as descriptive patterns within the NCAA survey. They should not be generalized to recreational athletes, professional athletes or athletes outside the report’s population.
Athlete Nutrition Targets for Carbohydrates, Protein and Hydration
Unlike the survey findings, the 2022 IOC heat consensus gives recommendations rather than observed population averages. For exercise lasting more than one hour, it gives 30–60 grams of carbohydrate per hour; for events lasting more than 2.5 hours, it gives up to 90 grams per hour.
| Scenario | IOC heat-consensus guidance | Definition or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise longer than one hour | 30–60 g carbohydrate/hour | Guidance range requiring individualization |
| Event longer than 2.5 hours | Up to 90 g carbohydrate/hour | Upper guidance value, not an intake distribution |
| Postexercise rehydration | 100%–120% of body-mass losses | Depends on fluid and electrolyte losses |
| Exercise longer than one hour | 0.5–0.7 g sodium/L | Typical hydration-plan concentration |
| Athletes prone to heat cramping | 1.5 g sodium/L | Specific guidance example |
Source: IOC consensus statement on recommendations and regulations for sport events in the heat.
The same consensus recommends replacing 100%–120% of body-mass losses after exercise. It gives 0.5–0.7 grams of sodium per liter as a typical hydration-plan concentration for exercise longer than one hour, with 1.5 grams per liter as an increased concentration example for athletes prone to exercise-associated muscle cramping in the heat.
Protein adherence also varies by study population and sex. In a study of highly trained Portuguese athletes during the competitive phase, 22% of females were below protein recommendations and 16% were above them; among males, 2% were below and 37% were above.
Source: Characterization and Comparison of Nutritional Intake between Preparatory and Competitive Phase of Highly Trained Athletes. The results depend on the study’s sport mix, recommendations and dietary-assessment method and are not generalizable to all athletes.