Nutritional Status and Dietary Practices of Female Athletes | ||
| Journal of High Institute of Public Health | ||
| Article 10, Volume 38, Issue 4, October 2008, Pages 871-886 PDF (195.16 K) | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jhiph.2008.20982 | ||
| Author | ||
| Sally Ezzat* | ||
| Fellow of Nutrition; Students' Hospital Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status and the feeding practices of female athletes practicing sport at the first class level. The sample of was taken from three sports clubs in Alexandria and included 124 athletes practicing handball, basketball or volleyball. Each athlete was privately interviewed using a pre-coded questionnaire to collect data on her educational level and her source of advice regarding athletic nutrition. Data was collected on the exact composition of the diet consumed before competition which were analyzed using the Egyptian food composition table. The diet was classified into balanced diet, unbalanced diet, high carbohydrate or high protein diets. Athletes were questioned about the time of consuming diet before competition and about fluid intake before, during and after the sport event. The athletes were also requested to provide information on the type of supplement frequently consumed. The nutritional status of the athletes was assessed using a set of anthropometric measurements including body weight, height, waist and hip circumferences. BMI was calculated.The results show that anthropometric measurements were within normal range. The team coach and older players were the main sources of nutrition advice. Only 22.6% of the athletes consumed a balanced diet and a similar proportion consumed a high carbohydrate diet. Meals were consumed by 42.8% of the players less than 3 hours before competition. Fluids were omitted by 33.1% and 50.8% of the athletes before and during competition. Nutritional supplements were taken by 73.4% of the players, performance enhancing supplement was most commonly used particularly by university graduates. The results confirm that poor dietary practices are quite prevalent and necessitate the inclusion of a nutritionist in the training team. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Nutritional Status; Dietary Practices; Female athletes | ||
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