Dr Charlie Roberts

Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Nutrition

Email:: Charlie.roberts@bcu.ac.uk

Charlie leads modules related to nutrition and exercise on the MSc Sport and Exercise Nutrition and the BSc Sport and Exercise Science degrees. Charlie is research-active and has interest in areas such as supporting caregivers of young athletes in their ability to provide appropriate nutrition, eating disorders and disordered eating in athletes, and health and wellbeing of university students.

He is currently working with the FA to support the provision of nutrition support to caregivers of female academy football players in the Pro-Game Academies. Charlie is a member of the Editorial Board for the journal Performance Nutrition.

Charlie was awarded a doctoral scholarship to complete a PhD at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. His research aimed to identify and analyse the nutrition support process in Rugby Union athletes in New Zealand to provide practical support for those working in rugby academies. Prior to this, he achieved an MSc in Human Nutrition with specialisation in Sport and Exercise Nutrition at the University of Glasgow and a BSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Northumbria University.

Alongside his work in academia, Charlie developed his practical skills both in conjunction with and separately from his PhD, working within many disciplines and levels spanning from youth to professional athletes. Charlie is accredited as an Academic Associate on the British Dietetic Associations’ Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register.

Areas of Expertise

Qualifications

Memberships

Teaching

Research

Postgraduate Supervision

Publications

Procter, E., James, R., Savage, M., Roberts, C.J. and Hardwicke, J. 2025. University students’ everyday negotiations of (un)healthy practices. Journal of Human Behaviour in the Social Environment.
Hardwicke, J. and Roberts, C.J. 2025. Disparities in self-reported health measures amongst sexual minority compared to sexual majority university students. Research in Post-Compulsory Education.
Roberts, C.J. and Gough, L.A., 2024. Contemporary themes in dietary intake in rugby union players: a narrative review. Nutrients, 16(17), p.3011.
Roberts, C.J., Hurst, H.T., Keay, N., Hamer, J., Sims, S., Schofield, K. and Hardwicke, J., 2024. An Appetite to Win: Disordered Eating Behaviours amongst Competitive Cyclists. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching.
Roberts, C.J., Ryan, D.J., Campbell, J. and Hardwicke, J., 2024. Self-reported physical activity and sedentary behaviour amongst UK university students: a cross-sectional case study. Critical Public Health, 34(1), pp.1-17.
Callis, L., Russell, M., Hurst, H., Hardwicke, J. and Roberts, C.J., 2023. Room for improvement in sports nutrition knowledge amongst parents and caregivers of male academy soccer players in the UK: a cross-sectional study. Nutrients, 15(20), p.4331.
Hardwicke, J., Roberts, C.J., Anderson, E. and Magrath, R., 2023. Drafting behind LGB: Transgender athletes in the sport of cycling. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 59(1), pp.58-81.
Roberts, C.J., Gill, N.D., Baxter, B.A. and Sims, S.T., 2023. Ecological validation and practical challenges of conducting dietary analysis in athletic individuals using a novel remote food photography method mobile phone application. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, 6(1), pp.90-96.
Roberts, C.J., Gill, N.D., Beaven, C.M., Posthumus, L.R. and Sims, S.T., 2022. The Influence of Full-Time Holistic Support Delivered by a Sports Nutritionist on Within-Day Macronutrient Distribution in New Zealand Provincial Academy Rugby Union Players. Nutrients, 15(1), p.17.
Roberts, C.J., Hurst, H.T. and Hardwicke, J., 2022. Eating disorders and disordered eating in competitive cycling: a scoping review. Behavioral Sciences, 12(12), p.490.
Roberts, C.J., Gill, N.D., Beaven, C.M., Posthumus, L.R. and Sims, S.T., 2022. Application of a nutrition support protocol to encourage optimisation of nutrient intake in provincial academy rugby union athletes in New Zealand: Practical considerations and challenges from a team-based case study. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 18(6), pp.2263-2276.
Roberts, C., Gill, N., Darry, K., Posthumus, L. and Sims, S., 2022. Daily protein distribution patterns in professional and semi-professional male Rugby Union players. The Journal of Sport and Exercise Science, 6(1), pp.31-41.
Roberts, C., Gill, N. and Sims, S., 2020. The influence of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on perceived nutrition habits in rugby union players. Frontiers in Nutrition, 7, p.589737.

Conference outputs

Roberts, C. Poor nutrition knowledge amongst caregivers of female footballers at professional club academies in the UK. International Sport and Exercise Nutrition Conference, Manchester, UK.
Roberts, C., Gill, N., Beaven, C.M., Posthumus, L. and Sims, S., 2022. Full-time nutrition practitioner support may positively influence meal distribution of dietary protein in provincial academy rugby union athletes. Sport and Exercise Science New Zealand Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.
Roberts, C., 2022. Semi-Professional Rugby Union Players May be at Risk of Low-Energy Availability. European College of Sport Science, Sevilla, Spain.
Roberts, C., Sims, S., Gill, N., Posthumus, L. and Beaven, C.M., 2022. Nutrition Knowledge in provincial academy rugby athletes in New Zealand. The 19th Annual International Society of Sports Nutrition Conference, Fort Lauderdale, USA.