Dietary intake and diet quality in Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I cross country teams during a competitive season

The objective of this study was to characterize dietary intake and diet quality during a competitive season in female and male NCAA Division I cross country student-athletes. The study was registered at Clinical Trials.gov (NCT04079322). Females and males (n=14/sex) from the Florida State University cross country teams completed 9-d of food records across their competitive season. Nutrient intakes were determined from USDA food and beverage databases. Diet quality was assessed according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) using the 2020 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2020). Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) was estimated from training records collected across the entire 14-week season.