An Environmental Nutrition Intervention at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

Abstract

The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of competition for elite athletes. Dietary intake plays an integral role in an athlete’s training and preparation for competition, however, access to nutrition information has previously played a minor role in the dining hall of the athletes’ village at the Olympic Games. Although environmental nutrition interventions have been tested in a variety of settings, this has not been previously done at an Olympic Games. PURPOSE: To develop and evaluate an environmentally based nutrition intervention to support the dietary needs of athletes at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. METHODS: A multifaceted approach was utilised including: comprehensive review of the proposed Olympic menu, chef education and training, development of point-of-choice (POC) nutrition labels with unique icons, a website, and a nutrition kiosk staffed by volunteer sports dieticians to assist athletes with food selection and menu planning. Developmental methodology included literature reviews, focus groups, surveys of athletes and sports dieticians, database development, and educational seminars. Evaluative methodology included data collection from the website, kiosk and caterers, quality assurance audits by dieticians, menu sampling, laboratory analysis of selected food samples (n=40), and a survey of athletes conducted within the main dining hall (n=414). RESULTS: Most athletes were aware of at least one facet of the nutrition intervention and were generally satisfied with the quality of materials encountered. POC labels were rated as excellent and used by 85.5% of athletes all or some of the time. Quality assurance audits confirmed that most menu items (90.8%) displayed the correct POC nutrition card, although a mean difference of 3.7g (95%CI:1.2-6.1g) in the fat content between the recipe and actual menu item was detected by laboratory analysis. Feedback from athletes suggested the menu catered successfully for diverse cultural, special diet and athletic needs, without compromising the taste of the food. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of the environmental nutrition intervention used for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games confirmed its beneficial role in supporting the needs of athletes at elite level competition but also highlighted areas which could be improved for future games.