Food provision at the Olympic Games in the new millennium: a meta-narrative review

This meta-narrative review provides a comprehensive overview of food provision and at the Olympic and Paralympic Games (and similar scoped major competition events) over the past 21 years (since 2000) and discusses future challenges. Information sources included both grey literature (media, periodicals), official reports and evidence-based studies, reviews, book chapters and theses. Eleven narratives emerged from the data extraction which were synthesised into four overarching themes: (1) Scope, experience of caterers, role of sponsorship and outcomes of food provision; (2) Food safety, security and risk of illness (including COVID-19); (3) The role of nutrition in food provision (including dietary trends and variability in nutrition servicing of athletes); and (4) The increased global focus on sustainability in relation to large scale competition events. The food environment at the Olympic and Paralympic Games is an example of ongoing excellence in food provision through the incorporation of sports nutrition innovation and science to ensure the provision of a safe and sustainable food supply that can educate on health and performance of athletes and showcase the value and role that food has in society.
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Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:biological and medical sciences
Published in:Sports Medicine - Open
Language:English
Published: 2023
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-023-00567-7
Volume:9
Issue:1
Pages:24
Document types:article
Level:advanced