Nutrition education and behavioral interventions in youth team-sport and related development settings: a systematic review of nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, hydration, body composition, and performance

Abstract

Introduction: Nutrition knowledge and the ability to translate it into appropriate food and hydration choices are important for health, development, recovery, and performance in young athletes. However, evidence on nutrition interventions in youth team-sport settings remains dispersed across sports, educational formats, and outcome domains. This systematic review aimed to synthesize evidence on nutrition education, hydration education, dietary counseling, digital tools, controlled dietary modification, and multicomponent interventions in child, adolescent, and late-adolescent development settings.Methods: The review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420261441507). PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, SPORTDiscus/EBSCO, and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched from inception to 3 July 2026. Two reviewers independently screened reports, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using RoB 2 or ROBINS-I. Because of substantial heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes, findings were synthesized narratively.Results: Database searches identified 419 records. After duplicate removal and screening, 46 full-text reports were assessed, 19 were excluded, and 27 unique studies were included. Soccer/football predominated, with additional evidence from volleyball, basketball, handball, baseball, hockey, American football, and mixed-sport settings. Nutrition and sports nutrition knowledge showed the most consistent favorable changes. Findings for dietary intake, diet quality, body composition, biochemical markers, and performance were mixed. Hydration interventions showed clearer short-term improvements when education was combined with practical cues, improved fluid access, feedback, or individualized prescriptions.Discussion: Nutrition interventions in youth team-sport and related development settings may support knowledge acquisition and selected hydration behaviors, but their effects on dietary behavior and physiological outcomes remain uncertain. Confidence in the evidence is limited by small samples, short follow-up periods, heterogeneous measures, reliance on self-report, incomplete fidelity reporting, and risk-of-bias concerns. Future trials should use validated age-appropriate measures, objective outcomes, longer follow-up, prespecified analyses, and implementation strategies involving athletes, families, coaches, schools, and clubs.