Background/Purpose: Soccer is considered a long-term intermittent exercise with sprints, changes of direction, accelerations and decelerations (Mohr et al., 2003). Training increases the body`s energy demand, making it necessary to develop a balanced, complete and differentiated diet for soccer players (Silva & Silva, 2023). If this does not happen, players are subject to loss of muscle mass, fatigue, decreased performance, as well as other negative impacts on their performance (Hilal et al., 2022). In addition to a proper diet, the assessment of athletes` body composition provides an important component in a physical fitness program, controlling body weight, maintaining a high level of physiological functioning, being related to health, quality of life and performance (Mantovaneli et al., 2023). Given these facts, the present study aimed to evaluate the food consumption and body composition of professional soccer players and verify the adequacy of consumption in relation to dietary recommendations. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study whose sample consisted of 35 male athletes aged between 18 and 35 years from a professional soccer team in the northeast part of Brazil. To assess food consumption, the club`s nutritionist interviewed the athletes and administered three 24-hour recalls on non-consecutive days. Body mass and skinfold measurements were taken by the club`s professional trainer. Fat percentage values were calculated based on the Pollock and Jackson (1978) protocol of seven skinfolds (subscapular, triceps, pectoral, supra iliac, abdomen, thigh, subaxillary). Each skinfold was measured three times non-consecutively. Analysis/Results: The data were tabulated and analyzed in a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet. Among the results obtained, the average caloric intake of the athletes was 2,939.5 Kcal/day. When comparing macronutrients in relation to the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine, the players` food consumption meets adequate average values of lipids (21.9% and 1g/kg/day), high average values of proteins (24% and 2.3g/kg/day) and low average carbohydrate values (54.1% and 5.4g/kg/day). Regarding dietary supplements, all athletes reported consuming creatine; 97.1% whey protein; 85.7% multivitamin; 60% maltodextrin; 45.7% hypercaloric; 40% took caffeine capsules only on game days and 11.4% reported consuming other types such as omega 3, magnesium, amino acids, sodium, coenzyme Q10 and zinc. Regarding body composition, the average values found were 178.7 cm for height; 81.4 kg for body mass; 10.3% body fat and 45.7 kg of muscle mass. Conclusions: Results suggested that soccer players have an imbalance in the consumption of macronutrients with a greater contribution of proteins than carbohydrates. This reinforces the importance of the club`s nutritionist to prescribe the correct and specific amounts of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, as they are auxiliary nutrients in energy production and important in delaying fatigue and especially in preventing injuries (Almeida, 2015).
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