PINES Global Report: Spain

By Rita Civil I Viñallonga

Sports nutritionists and dietitians in Spain  

Professionals working in nutrition with athletes and high performance sport in Spain often come from different backgrounds; including medical doctors, sports science or dietetics. Nonetheless, the field of sports nutrition is very specific and continuously evolving, requires appropriate education and knowledge.

There are some postgraduate programs available in Spain that include training in this area, however they are usually not exclusive or it is a part of a larger program such as sports performance, physiology, and strength and conditioning. Other universities offer programs in sport nutrition that are not official undergraduate or master degrees. Even though great institutions like the Spanish Olympic Committee and very important Football clubs in the country support some of the mentioned degrees, the quality of lectures and degree programmes is questionable.

Good sport nutrition education programs can be found elsewhere; either in international distance learning format, such as the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition; or master and doctoral studies in countries like the UK, Canada, USA, or Australia. However, only a minority of Spaniards are aware and/or willing to consider these opportunities abroad.

This apparent limitation on the current Spanish education in sports nutrition does not seem to transfer into other areas. Exercise physiology and nutrition research has been growing among Sport Science departments in universities. Academia personnel in Spain are developing and bringing new ideas and knowledge to the Spanish community thanks to the influence of other international research groups. Similarly, practitioners usually travel outside the country for conferences or workshops in sports and performance nutrition.

Without doubt, advances in technology and transportation have facilitated communication and networking. Peer reviewed journals are mostly consulted online and scientific literature is daily present in social media. Younger dietitians and sports nutritionists are benefiting from this, while senior practitioners or investigators in this area can find it more difficult to keep up with the current velocity and amount of information available. In addition, most of these papers and conferences arE in English, which can become a barrier for Spanish professionals who struggle with this language.

The existence of the group Nutrición y Dietética para la Actividad Física y Deportiva (nutrition and dietetics for physical activity and sport) in the Academia Española de Nutrición y Dietética (Spanish nutrition and dietetics academy), have a convinient purpose of supporting and assembling sport nutrition practitioners in this country. Notwithstanding, the scope of this group appears currently limited, with very few members and the recognition only of professionals with a degree in dietetics (and not with a different background).

In an interview with the leaders of this group, they have stated that are currently working towards the improvement of the promotion and investment of dietitians and nutritionists on research, academia, and the applied field in activities related to nutrition for sport and performance. In addition, they are expanding their collaborations with Spanish universities offering postgraduate programs in the area of physical activity and sport. They indicated that consider an interesting option to acknowledge different qualifications, as well as international professionals working in sports nutrition, while being inspired by similar organizations in other countries such Australia or the UK.

Furthermore, they have various projects scheduled for the next months, including a workshop in Nutrition strategies for athletes looking to improve their performance in a healthy manner, at the I Congreso de Alimentación, Nutrición y Dietética (Nutrition Congress) on November 10-11th 2017 in Zaragoza (Spain). The group is looking forward to continue developing further activities and materials, and communicate they achievements in the future.

Finally, seems that practitioners working with elite athletes and high performance have find their ways to stay updated and network, although usually outside of Spain. This growing community would profit from an organization that regulates professionals working in this area, and promotes and facilitate activities and networking opportunities including conferences and workshops. Furthermore, higher quality education and better English knowledge are warranting for both future and current Spanish professionals interested in the field of sports nutrition. 

Author

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Rita Civil I Viñallonga

BSc in Physical Activity and Sport Science
IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition
MSc in Sport Nutrition student