Promotion of healthy eating in clubs with junior teams in Australia: A cross-sectional study of club representatives and parents

Issues addressed: To: (i) describe the prevalence of policies and practices promoting healthy eating implemented by sports clubs with junior teams; (ii) examine differences in such practices across geographic and operational characteristics of clubs; and (iii) describe the attitudes of club representatives and parents regarding the acceptability of sports clubs implementing policies and practices to promote healthy eating. Methods: Cross-sectional telephone surveys of junior community football club management representatives and parents/carers of junior players were conducted in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia in 2016. Results: Seventy-nine of the 89 club representatives approached to participate completed the telephone survey. All clubs (100%; 95% CI 96.2-100.0) reported recommending fruit or water be provided to players after games or at half-time, 24% (95% CI 14.4-33.7) reported promoting healthy food options through prominent positioning at point of sale and only 8% (95% CI 1.6-13.6) of clubs had a written healthy eating policy. There were no significant differences between the mean number of healthy eating policies and practices implemented by club socio-economic or geographic characteristics. Club representatives and parents/carers were supportive of clubs promoting healthy eating for junior players. Conclusions: While there is strong support within sporting clubs with junior teams for policies and practices to promote healthy eating, their implementation is highly variable. So what?: A considerable opportunity remains for health promotion policy and practice improvement in clubs with junior teams, particularly regarding policies related to nutrition.