Association between nutritional status and performance in American football players

American football is a high intensity intermittent sport that has specific energy demands, making nutrition a fundamental factor in the athletes' performance. We verified the association between nutritional status and performance of American Football players. Thirty-four American football players of regional level were included from three teams from Curitiba-PR Anthropometric evaluations, nutritional assessment and performance tests were carried out. Our main findings were that 73.5% of players are overweight and 41.1% was classified to some obesity level. In addition, 35.2% have a higher risk of negative changes in metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes. Body composition variables (e.g., body mass index, abdominal circumference, and body fat percentage) were significantly correlated with physical performance tests (e.g., 40 and 20 yards, 3 Cone Drill and Broad Jump). Our findings suggest that nutritional status affects physical performance in FA players. Coaches, dietitians/nutritionists and practitioners should be aware of periodic nutritional and assessments aiming to reduce chances of impairments on performance levels due to poor nutritional state.