Overview

Choosing a Topic Based on Sports Nutrition / Health and Fitness

The majority of the peer-reviewed research into the effects of nutrition on sport and exercise performance takes place within specialised laboratories of academic institutions; however, the findings are not only of interest to academics. Therefore, for the new knowledge gained to be shared with the widest possible audience, but still retain a strong evidence base, it is necessary for scientists and researchers to become skilled at writing directly for a non-scientific audience.

National newspapers have a large readership, but due to space limitations and short deadlines often do not have the capacity to publish detailed, evidence-based pieces related to sports nutrition. Print and online magazines focussed on fitness, health, and/or sport/exercise performance tend to accommodate longer and more heavily researched articles on these topics, and some of these publications/websites include articles custom written by academic researchers for laypeople.

Therefore, your task will be to produce an original magazine style article on a topic of current interest within sport and exercise nutrition. The basis of the idea is entirely your choice, but the article must be your own work, and must cover a topic/issue/debate within the field of sport and exercise nutrition

Choosing a topic based on sports nutrition /health and fitness

Some ideas for choosing a starting point for your article include:

1. A journal article related to sport and exercise nutrition that has recently been published showing novel, unexpected, or controversial findings.

2. A major sporting/exercise event that is currently going on, has just finished, or will happen in the near future(linking it to sports nutrition).

3. The effect on sport/exercise performance of a diet that has grown in popularity and/or received increased media attention recently.

4. A comparison between a whole food source of a nutrient and an extract/supplement for sport/exercise performance

Most important is that you read widely on the topic that you will focus on in your article, critique the quality of the different studies that have been published in that area, then use the findings of your critical analysis as the evidence base for your article.

1) Read relevant online magazine articles to get a feel for how the style of this form of writing differs from that asked for in a lab report, essay, or journal article. Some good examples from different online magazines will be added as links on the module.

2) Put some thought into coming up with a tagline/headline that conveys the core message of what your article is about, attracts attention, and encourages people to read further. If you can keep this short, without excluding an essential part of your message, that is a plus. You should follow this with a first sentence that immediately leaves a strong impression and convinces the reader to commit to reading the rest of the article. This is best achieved by telling the reader something they do not know (or are unlikely to have heard about), thus giving you the opportunity to invite them along on an exciting journey of scientific revelation.

3) If appropriate, include relevant high-resolution, eye-catching pictures that help to interest readers and instantly provide an insight into the topic of your article. It is important not to use images to which the photographer/publisher retains all the rights, therefore make sure to take advantage of websites (e.g. Unsplash) that allow you to search through high quality photos that have been uploaded for you to download and use however you want. Certain search engines also include a tool where you can search images according to the rights attached to them, therefore excluding all those that do not permit reuse.

4) Make sure you critically analyse the journal articles and other sources of information that you cite, rather than just repeating their conclusions word for word in your article. It may be helpful to keep a list of positive and negative points for the papers you will cite, so that you can advise readers of how much attention they should pay to a particular finding you mention. However, be careful not to become too focussed on fine detail within the article, and limit technical language/jargon, as both could confuse lay readers.Make sure you engage the reader without complicating the article  (this is very important).