Name: Michael Leveritt
Position: Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, Griffith University
Lives:  Gold Coast
Favourite food: Meat pie and tomato sauce washed down with an Ice Break iced coffee
Favourite sport: Rugby League

Tell us about yourself. How did you become a sports dietitian?

My interest in the area was sparked while lecturing in exercise physiology at The University of Westminster in the UK and I was asked to teach a sports nutrition subject. After teaching this subject for three years and supervising a PhD student whose project was focussed on sports nutrition, I decided it might be a good idea to become a dietitian. Currently I am the convenor of the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics program at Griffith University.
 

What other areas of dietetics are you interested in?

I am interested in educating and up-skilling other health professionals, particularly exercise physiologists and physiotherapists, so that they can provide credible nutrition information when a dietitian is not accessible. I am also interested in educating students and providing opportunities for them to learn through practical experience and also participation in research.
 

Why did you become involved with SDA?

As an academic it is easy to lose touch with some of the real issues within the profession. I find attending SDA meetings gives me an opportunity to see and hear what is going on in sports nutrition at a really applied level. I am a firm believer that a lot of the best ideas for sports nutrition research projects come from anecdotal observations by sports dietitians working with coaches and athletes on a daily basis. Attending SDA meetings is also an opportunity for me to support SDA members with an occasional research update.
 

What do you see are some of the major issues for SDA over the next five years?

In the short term, I think we need to keep spreading the message that nutrition is an important consideration for those undertaking competitive sport and an active lifestyle. In the longer term, I think we need to support more applied research in sports nutrition and more avenues for communicating research findings to sports dietitians who can use this information in an applied setting. The success of the ESSA/SDA (formerly AAESS/SDA) conference has been a great step in the right direction in this area.
 

Do you participate in any sport yourself?

I played all sports when I was younger and I was pretty competitive in swimming in my late teens. However, despite my anthropometrical disadvantage, I now participate in distance running. Although I usually only compete (not sure if I actually compete, but I do enter and finish) in two events each year - the Gold Coast half marathon and the Bridge to Brisbane.

Which sportsperson (or team) do you admire the most and why?

The sportsperson I most admire is Don Bradman because I don't think we will ever see another competitor in a major sport set records that are so far superior to all others in that sport. As a sports fan, I support any person or team from Queensland and I regularly attend Brisbane Broncos home games.