Navigating sports nutrition: athlete and coach experiences from a 16-week personalized intervention

Background Athletes in Sri Lanka face significant barriers when attempting to adhere to sports nutrition recommendations (SNR), despite the potential for these strategies to optimize performance. This study examines the perceptions and experiences of athletes and coaches regarding barriers and challenges to nutrition interventions in the context of a resource-limited environment. Methods In-depth interviews with 15 track and field athletes and their coaches, who completed a 16-week personalized sports nutrition intervention, were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis with NVIVO v10.0. A data-driven, inductive approach to coding was employed, allowing themes to emerge organically from the data rather than being pre-determined by existing frameworks. Thematic analysis followed an iterative process of familiarization, open coding, theme refinement, and synthesis. Results The athletes had a mean age of 23.4 ± 2.8 years. The four male coaches had a mean age of 50.4 ± 6.41 years. Three key themes were identified: (I) Intrinsic challenges, (II) Extrinsic challenges faced by athletes, and (III) Recommendations and insights to improve the efficiency of the sports nutrition intervention. We identified financial constraints, knowledge gaps, and taste preferences as intrinsic challenges, while residential limitations and other practical difficulties—such as limited access to recommended foods, time management challenges, barriers to adhering to meal timings, and psychosocial stressors—were identified as extrinsic challenges. Key insights for improvement included increasing the frequency of consultations and involving coaches in these consultations, enabling them to actively support athletes in adhering to nutritional recommendations. Athletes expressed a preference for guidelines in both printed and digital formats. Participants also emphasized the need for enhanced medical support through more frequent doctor-athlete interactions and investing in young athletes by extending the program to school-level athletes, offering structured guidance, nutritional support, and sustained monitoring to foster long-term success. Conclusions Personalized sports nutrition interventions in Sri Lanka are hindered by multifaceted barriers, but opportunities for transformative change exist through collaboration among athletes, coaches, sports organizations, and policymakers. A systems-oriented approach, addressing both individual and structural challenges, is essential for improving adherence to nutritional recommendations.