Logo image
Back
Evaluation of food provision and nutrition support at the London 2012 Olympic Games: The opinion of sports nutrition experts
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Evaluation of food provision and nutrition support at the London 2012 Olympic Games: The opinion of sports nutrition experts

Fiona Pelly, Nanna L Meyer, Jeni Pearce, Sarah J Burkhart and Louise Mary Burke
International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, Vol.24(6), pp.674-683
2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0218
url
https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0218View
Published Version

Abstract

food provision nutritional support London 2012 Olympic Games London 2012 Paralympic Games sports nutrition
The aim of this study was to evaluate the food provision and nutrition support at the London 2012 Olympic (OG) and Paralympic Games (PG) from the perspective of sports nutrition experts attending the event. Participants (n=15) were asked to complete an online survey and rate on a Likert scale menu qualities, food safety, sustainability practices, nutrition labelling, and provision for cultural needs, dietary regimes and specific situations. Open-ended responses were incorporated to explore expert opinion and areas for improvement. Participants rated their overall experience of the food provision as 7.6 out of 10(range 5 - 10), with the majority (n=11) rating it greater than 7. The variety, accessibility, presentation, temperature and freshness of menu items rated as average to good. A below average rating was received for recovery food and beverages, provision of food for travelling to other venues, taking suitable snacks out of the dining hall and provision of food at other venues. However, the variety and accessibility of choices for Ramadan, and provision of post-competition food were rated highly. A number of comments were received about the lack of gluten free and lower energy/fat items. The inclusion of allergens on nutrition labelling was considered more important than nutrient content. While dietetic review of the menu in advance of the OG and PG is clearly a valuable process that has resulted in improvements in the food supply, there are still areas that need to be addressed that are currently not implemented during the event.

Details

Metrics

14 File views/ downloads
7876 Record Views
17 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas
Nutrition & Dietetics
Sport Sciences
Logo image