availability and food safety. Jet-lag, risk of dehy-
dration, body mass changes and food allergies
were also identified as challenges for the travel-
ling athlete.
Food availability
Without hesitation, athletes, coaches, trainers
and sports nutritionists list ‘not having the food
we need available’ as the number one nutritional
problem when travelling to a training camp
or competition. While this can be a hurdle for
all athletes, it is particularly difficult for those
whose nutritional plan involves frequent small
meals throughout the day: some athletes, espe-
cially those engaged in hard training, eat seven
to eight meals or snacks each day. Local and
regional events present fewer problems, as ath-
letes can bring their own food, either on an indi-
vidual or team basis, or can ensure that local
restaurants or hotels have the appropriate food
available. However, the greater the distance to be
travelled and the longer the time to be spent
away from home, the more important it is to plan
well in advance if athletes are to be able to follow
their nutritional plan. On long trips or training
camps, it is not possible to be self-sufficient. One
problem in such situations is the short menu
cycle in many training camps: restaurant or hotel
dining may be even worse, with no change of
menu. A menu or self-service buffet that appears
varied for the first day can become extremely
monotonous after only a few days.
For high-altitude training, Finnish athletes
train in countries such as Switzerland or Austria
and often stay in small villages: the accommoda-
tion is usually in private hotels run by families
where the food is plentiful but not always the
high-carbohydrate foods that many athletes
prefer, and again with little variety. At these loca-
tions, travel to training venues is usually by bus,
and low-carbohydrate, high-fat foods purchased
at fuel stations may be the only food available.
Similar situations are reported from athletes in
many other countries. Here, as in all situations,
athletes require some nutritional knowledge to
allow them to make the best food choices. Some-
times special arrangements can be made with
hotel owners to ensure a menu that will meet the
athletes’ needs, and to provide meals that can be
taken to the training venue, but such arrange-
ments may not be possible. Many athletes use
sports drinks and high-carbohydrate snacks to
maintain carbohydrate intake, but this can lead
to an unbalanced diet: while this may not be
important in the short term, athletes may spend
weeks or even months at some training camps.
Chinese athletes, when travelling in the West,
prefer to bring their own foods such as noodles,
canned porridge, salted vegetables (such as hot
pickled mustard tuber) and chocolate. While
there is no single solution to all travel problems,
as all athletes, coaches, team physicians and
nutritionists know, planning ahead is essential if
the athletes’ needs are to be met.
Athletes or teams preferring to take food for
the trip need to consider not only the perishabil-
ity of food, but also airline restrictions on the
weight and number of pieces of luggage. A US
boxing team travelling abroad for a month of
training and competition augmented their diet
by taking canned tuna, peanut butter, crackers
and chocolate bars. These items provided a sig-
nificant amount of energy and nutrients while
not adding significantly to the weight of the
luggage. International travel is likely to impose
limitations on the type of foods that can be taken.
Many countries, including the US, have customs
laws that prohibit the importation of fresh fruit,
vegetables and meat products: such restric-
tions almost invariably apply to intercontinental
travel. The penalties for contravening import
regulations may be severe, apart from the confis-
cation of the team’s food supply, and all team
members must be aware of the restrictions that
apply. Advance planning should prevent this sit-
uation from arising.
Some travelling athletes choose to take only
enough food to serve as a backup, and expect to
rely on local food sources for the majority of their
needs. Common ‘travel food’ for US athletes
include dried pasta, canned or powered sauces,
cookies, canned meat and fish, peanut butter,
soups, nuts, chocolate bars, crackers and sports