Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background Academy soccer players often fail to meet daily carbohydrate intake recommendations, with this shortfall potentially influenced by limited nutritional knowledge. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate a novel, time- efficient questionnaire to assess academy players’ understanding of current carbohydrate guidelines. Methods The Fuel-90 NextGen questionnaire was developed by research-active practitioners, drawing on the 2021 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) expert group statement on nutrition in elite soccer. The Fuel-90 NextGen questionnaire contained 25 multiple-choice questions divided into 5 sub-sections, assessing: (1) Carbohydrate Metabolism and Energy Demands, (2) Energy and Carbohydrate Requirements for Training, (3) The Day Before a Match, (4) Match-day Requirements (5) Post-match Recovery. The questionnaire was administered to 51 professionally Sport and Exercise Nutrition registered practitioners (SENR) and 375 male academy soccer players from the English Premier League and Championship. To determine test-retest reliability, a subgroup of 32 academy players completed the questionnaire on a second occasion within 21 days of their initial submission. Results Construct validity was confirmed by significant differences in Fuel-90 NextGen score between the two groups (SENR: 24.0 ± 1.0; 96 ± 4.1% vs. 14.5 ± 4.3; 58 ± 17%; p < 0.001). Fuel-90 NextGen demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0⋅83) and good reliability (r = 0.724; p < 0.001), with no significant learning effect between test (16 ± 4) and re-test (16 ± 4; p = 0.536). Conclusions The Fuel-90 NextGen questionnaire provides a robust and dependable instrument that enables practitioners to evaluate academy soccer players’ understanding of current carbohydrate recommendations, supporting the development of targeted nutrition education strategies.</p>