Today is World Health Day and ESSNA would like to take this opportunity to share best practice on how consumers can lead healthy and active lifestyles and how the sports and active nutrition community can support them during COVID-19.

Sport and physical activity contribute to the health and wellbeing of European citizens, but the level of physical activity in Europe is currently stagnating and even declining in some countries. The global COVID-19 pandemic and the various lockdown measures around the world that have shaken the world in the last 13 months exacerbated this even more.

Social distancing due to COVID-19 poses serious challenges to our physical and mental health. If there is one thing that the pandemic has made evident is that keeping people healthy and active for longer has a positive impact on productivity and competitiveness, and benefits society as a whole. And the sports and active nutrition industry has a big role to play in supporting citizens during these challenging times.

In the past year, as well as before COVID-19, ESSNA has worked extensively to support its members and consumers to lead healthy and active lifestyles, focusing on the importance of education around everything sports and active nutrition.

ESSNA runs a consumer education campaign and via its website and digital platforms, including its Facebook page, which aims to help sports nutrition consumers looking for guidance in their effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle during the pandemic. As part of this campaign, ESSNA provides consumers with a raft of information, including step by step guides, general tips on sports nutrition and sports activities, videos with experts, and much more.

In response to the new normal of home-based living, ESSNA has also released a series of free guides to help sportspeople searching online for advice and information on nutrition and exercise.  Our guides help consumers get started with sports nutrition as well as to maintain a balance between their sports activities and the consumption of sports nutrition products. ESSNA also shares with consumers general do’s and don’ts as well as tips to help them make the right choices and avoid suspicious-looking sports nutrition products.

Similarly, ESSNA’s guide on home-based sports nutrition covers everything people need to know about the consumption of sports nutrition while exercising from home. The guide provides useful tools on how to maintain sports nutrition consumption in balance with home-based exercise, achieving overall healthy diet and lifestyle.

For the millions of Europeans that spend more time at home because of the pandemic and are searching for an introduction to sports nutrition,  a free beginner’s guide to sports nutrition is also available on our website. The 12-step guide on how to get started with sports nutrition helps consumers to tailor their psychical activity and start supplementing their indoors healthy lifestyle with the right nutrition.

ESSNA has also published  a guide to sports nutrition pre, during and after exercise. This guide explains the importance of nutrition and the value of timing supplementation throughout your day. It helps consumers to time their nutritional intake to their exercise routine and explains what kind of nutrients the body needs before, during and after exercise as well as what sportspeople should keep in mind when selecting the right products.

Last but not least, to help Europeans stay up to date with the different measures restricting sport activities across EU Member States and the United Kingdom, ESSNA has been regularly collating a handy monthly guide providing a snapshot of the European sports and exercise restrictions.

On this important day, ESSNA encourages everyone to stay healthy and active!

ESSNA informs the public on all things sports and active nutrition through its consumer education campaign. The public can refer to ESSNA’s online resource hub for more information on everything sports nutrition related. In addition, ESSNA has a separate website dedicated wholly to protein. 

ESSNA’s kitemark helps the public identify products belonging to ESSNA members. ESSNA members sign up to its strict Code of Conduct, making a promise to the consumer that all their products comply fully with the European legislation put in place for their protection.

Facebook: @ESSNAsports

Twitter: @ESSNAsports

LinkedIn: European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance