Nutritional Status And Dietary Pattern Of Athletes
Nutritional Status And Dietary Pattern Of Athletes
Abstract
This study was conducted to provide information on the nutritional status and dietary pattern of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. This was a cross sectional descriptive study, involving 207 athletes aged 17 to 40 years in Ilorin. Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometric indices: Body Mass Index (BMI) and percentage body fat (%BF). BMI was calculated from weight and height measurements and %BF was estimated from the sum of skin-fold thickness at 4 sites (triceps, biceps, sub-scapular and supra-iliac skin-folds). Dietary pattern was assessed by food habits and food frequency questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to describe and examine relationships between variables. Mean (SD) for variables were: age; 26.09(±4.77) years, weight; 72.13(±0.45) kg, height; 1.74(±0.06)m, and BMI; 23.89(±3.34)kg/m2. Only 4(1.93%) of the participants were underweight, 39(18.84%) were overweight and 8(3.86%) obese. Mean (SD) of %BF among overweight athletes was 14.25(±3.12) and maximum %BF among overweight athletes was 21.2. A strong and positive correlation was observed between BMI and %BF and %BF increased with age among overweight athletes. About 72% of the athletes skipped meals, 77% drank water or sports drinks during sporting activities, about 11% spent less than #40.00 for each meal. About 49% ate before sports. Foods most frequently consumed by athletes in this study were meat, fish, roots/tubers, cereals, vegetables and fruits. Milk and legumes were less frequently consumed by these athletes. Most of these athletes had nutritional status adequate for their sport activity. With regards to food habits, most of these athletes performed poorly in frequency of meals intake but did considerably well in intake of fluids. With regards to dietary pattern, sources of daily intakes comprised of mostly of meats, fish, roots and tubers, cereals and vegetables.
Table of Content
- Title Page
- Certification
- Dedication
- Acknowledgement
- Table of Content
- List of Tables
- Abstract
Chapter One:
Introduction
- 1.1 Background of the Study
- 1.2 Statement of the Problem
- 1.3 Objective of the Study
- 1.4 Research Questions
- 1.5 Significance of the Study
- 1.6 Scope of the Study
- 1.7 Limitation of the Study
- 1.8 Definition of Terms
- 1.9 Organization of the Study
Chapter Two:
Review of Literature
- 2.1 Conceptualization
- 2.2 Conceptual Framework
- 2.3 Theoretical Framework
- 2.4 Empirical Review
Chapter Three:
Research Methodology
- 3.1 Introduction
- 3.2 Research Design
- 3.3 Study location
- 3.4 Subjects
- 3.5 Data Collection
- 3.6 Measurements And Instruments
- 3.7 Categorization Criteria of Athletes
- 3.8 Statistical Analysis
- 3.5 Model Estimation Procedure
Chapter Four:
Data Presentation and Analysis
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 Results
- 4.2.1 Nutritional Status
Chapter Five:
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
- 5.1 Summary
- 5.2 Conclusion
- 5.3 Recommendation
- References
- APPENDIX
- QUESTIONNAIRE
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Sports have over the years graduated from a recreational activity to a source of livelihood and employment. Success in sports brings fame, wealth and international recognition but comes as a result of consistent physical training with muscular exertions. Murray (1998) reported that severe exertion requires the body to attempt to cope simultaneously with competing demands for cardiovascular homeostasis, thermoregulatory control and maintenance of muscles energy. Costill et al. (1981) suggested that depletion of muscle glycogen store puts the athletes at a risk of hypoglycemia. Equally, severe exertion may generate several litres of sweat per day, which contains salt, water and also a number of other constituents such as iron and water soluble vitamins (Bergstom and Hultman, 1996). It is widely reported in the literature that, heavy schedule of training and competition leads to immuno-suppression in athletes, placing them at a greater risk of opportunistic infections (Bishop et al., 1999).
Adequate dietary intake, including sufficient fluid intake is paramount in ensuring athletic performance at its peak (Maughan and Burke, 2011). However, risky behaviours are widely reported among athletes. The use of high performance-enhancing drug is widely reported among young athletes. Diehl et al.(2012), in their review on unhealthy behaviours among adolescent athletes concluded that, prevalence of previous use of anabolic steroids among athletes was about 4%; and also the use of such drugs increased with increasing level of competition (Wichstrom and Pedersen, 2001).
Several studies have assessed nutritional status, dieting behavior or body-esteem, either individually or in combination (Diehl et al., 2012). Self-reported nutritional intakes (as in the case of frequency of food intakes, dietary habits etc) indicate that athletes tend to consume nutrients in excess of their recommendations.Daneshvar et al. (2013) reported that, among young male Isfahani wrestlers, mean intakes for energy, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and most micronutrients were higher than therecommended daily allowances (RDA). Ghloum and Hajji (2011) reported significantly higher intakes for most nutrients among Kuwaiti fencing players. In contrast, analysis of biochemical levels of nutrients among athletes indicated that, athletes were likely to consume both macro- and micro-nutrients at levels below recommendations for essential minerals, carbohydrates, and overall energy intake (Beals, 2002; Ruiz et al., 2005).
Moreover, eating disorders are particularly common among athletes;unspecified eating disorders have been diagnosed in about 58% of a population of athlete; with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa identified in lesser extents among athletes (BachnerMelman et al., 2006). Athletes who participated in certain types of sports perform in weights below their usual weights; in order to achieve this, they subjected themselves to excessive sweating, dietary and fluid restrictions (Steens and Brownell, 1990). Also these athletes employ various means to lose weights; Kiningham and Gorenflo (2001) noted that about 11% of participants of weight-dependent sports induced emesis at least weekly to lose weight. Other methods for weight reduction in addition to dieting include use of diuretics or laxatives (Kiningham and Gorenflo, 2001; Vertalino et al., 2007). Excessive dehydration from sweating can impair aerobic, anaerobic and strength performance, even in rehydration after such stress, only partial strength and work capacity can be recovered (Mikeal-Fogelholm et al. 1993).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Misinterpretation of published data and misleading media reports have led many athletes to adopt many unusual dietary regimen in the belief that these hold the key to improved performance (Bishop et al., 1999). Some sports have strict weight categories while in others, low body fat are considered an aesthetic advantage.
Studies conducted on factors that can enhance and/or limit performance among athletes, as well as those that may compromise their health status reported adequate nutritional status as critical. For instance, body composition measured by BMI and percentage body fat were within normal range among Kuwaiti fencing players (Ghloum and Hajji, 2011). Information on nutritional status and dietary behaviours among athletes will be useful in monitoring and supervising athletes performances in Nigeria, particularly, Ilorin, Kwara state. This study seek to assess the nutritional status and dietary pattern among athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
Generally, the purpose of the study is to examinethe nutritional status and dietary pattern among athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state. Specifically it seeks to:
- Assess the nutritional status of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state.
- Determine the dietary pattern of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state.
- Ascertain the frequency of food consumption of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions will guide and help the researcher to achieve the specified objective of this study:
- What is the nutritional status of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state?
- What is the dietary pattern of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state?
- What is the frequency of food consumption of athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state?
1.5 Significance of the Study
Nutrition is key in ensuring good performance in athletes and an increase in performance will reflect positively in the interest of investors and sponsors.
This study will provide the athletes with information to make informed choices to meet their nutritional needs in different situations. Understanding the dietary habits and nutritional status of athletes will also help a dietician/nutritionist to design nutritional guidelines that will provide optimal nutrition base on scientific evidence when it is observed that there are deficiencies. Thus, appropriate nutritional attention will be given to the athletes.
This study will also serve as baseline data about the nutritional status of athletes in Nigeria.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study generally focus on assessing nutritional status and dietary pattern of athletes. Then study will be limited to only male athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. However, the researcher was able to manage these just to ensure the success of this study.
Moreover, the case study method utilized in the study posed some challenges to the investigator including the possibility of biases and poor judgment of issues. However, the investigator relied on respect for the general principles of procedures, justice, fairness, objectivity in observation and recording, and weighing of evidence to overcome the challenges.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Nutrition:
The intake of food considered in relation the body’s dietary needs.
Nutrients:
Are components in foods that an organism uses to survive or grow.
Malnutrition:
Lack of proper nutrition caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things or being unable to use the food that one does eat.
Sport Performance:
Carrying out of specific physical routines or procedures by one who is trained or skilled in physical activity. Performance is influenced by the combination of physiological, psychological and socio cultural factor.
Physical Activity:
An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
Body Building Food:
Is designed to build muscle and reduce body fat. It emphasizes foods high in protein and complex carbohydrate such as whole grain bread, pasta and cereal.
Protective Food:
They contain adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and high quality proteins and they protect against development of deficiency disease e.g. beriberi.
Dietary:
The kind and amount of food available to or eaten by an individual, group or population. A system of dieting.
Supplement:
Are products used to enhance athletic performance that may include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs or combination of these. It is also called ergogenic acid.
Food Group:
Is a collection of foods that share similar nutritional properties or biological classifications.
1.9 Organization of the Studies
The study is categorized into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions, the significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of terms. The chapter two covers the review of literature with emphasis on conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review. Likewise, the chapter three deals with the research methodology. The second to last chapter being the chapter four presents the data presentation and analysis, while the last chapter(chapter five) contains the summary, conclusion and recommendation.
Chapter Five
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations:
5.1 Introduction
This chapter summarizes the findings on nutritional status and dietary pattern of athletes with specific reference to male athletes in Ilorin, Kwara state. The chapter consists of summary of the study, conclusions, and recommendations.
5.2 Summary of the Study Findings
This study was conducted to assess the nutritional status and dietary intakes of athletes in Ibadan, the largest city in western Nigeria. A total of 207 athletes participated in the study, with a mean age of 26.09(±4.77) years. This was a little lower but comparable to that found among athletes in Oman who had a mean age of 27 ± 3 years (Waly et al., 2013). This mean age was higher than the 21.5 ± 2.6 years (Ghloum and Hajji, 2011) found in Kuwaiti fencing players. However, all these are young adults. Mean weight and height of athletes in this study were 72.13(±0.45) kg and 1.74(±0.06)m respectively. This was comparable to those recorded among young athletes in Oman, where the mean weight and height were 75 ± 10 kg and 1.66 ± 0.12 m respectively, however, these values were lower than those recorded among American athletes (Nindl et al., 1998), this may be explained not only by genetics but also by the secular trends in weight and height following many generations of food security.
The body mass index measures a spectrum of nutritional status ranging from chronic energy deficiency (CED)associated with long-standing inadequate dietary intake through overweight and obesity. Skin-fold or fat-fold thickness measures depot energy stored as fat in the sub-cutaneous areas while arm span is a proxy for height which is believed to correlate with long-term nutritional adequacy. The mean body mass index obtained from this study was 23.89±3.34kg/m2. This was lower than the figure obtained by Waly et al., (2013) and 26.9 ± 2.7kg/m2 recorded among American College athletes (Ode et al., 2006). This implies that, on the average, these athletes had less energy depot than the above cited groups of athletes. A total of 75.36% had BMI values within normal range about1.93% were underweight, 18.84% were overweight and about4% were obese.
As expected, correlation coefficients between weight and height revealed a strong relationship, but implication of higher BMI values suggests higher body fat and predisposition to associated morbidities. BMI ≥ 25kg/m2 correlates with greater amount of body fat and associated with greater risk of developing hypertension, high blood cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease (CGIETO, 1998). However, body mass index does not take into account the proportion of the lean body mass and/or percentage body fat (Ode et al., (2006). The influence of large muscle mass due to hypertrophy on BMI in athletes may mis-classify these individuals as overweight and obese. Therefore, the use of %BF may be more effective than BMI in assessing obesity in athletes. The mean %BF of 14.15±13.12 was obtained in this study, which was comparable to the value obtained among American athletes (13.0 ± 4.9). As reported by Ode et al.(2006), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) estimated that 20% body fat in men and 33% in women are acceptable cut-off points for over-fatness corresponding to aBMI of 25 kg/m2 in young African American and white adults (ages 20–39). The value obtained from this study is lower than the 20% cut off for young men according to ACSM, (2006).
As expected there exists a strong and positive correlation between the BMI and %BF of overweight athletes. Athletes classified by BMI as overweight had a mean %BF that was less than 75% of the cut- off point for their age. This observation is consistent with previous findings that BMI lacks the ability to effectively represent adiposity in athletic populations (Witt and Bush 2005; Nevill et al. 2006). Ode and colleagues(2006) in their study to determine the accuracy of BMI as a measure of % fat in college athletes and non-athletes found that,73% of normal fat male athletes and 40% of non-athletes,were wrongly classified as overweight. Of all measures of body fatness, %BF was particularly observed to increase with increase in age among overweight athletes, however, the correlation between BMI and %BF among overweight athletes remained strong across all age groups eliminating the impact of age on the relationship between BMI and body fat. The increasing trend of average %BF for higher age groups is consistent with the widely held believe that fat accumulation increases with age. The age grouping may, however, have attenuated this effect. Most of the athletes skipped their meals because of tight schedules. This is similar to the findings by Waly et al., (2013), that, among young Omani athletes, about 55% took less than 3 meals per day.
Tunstall (1993) reported the difficulty of fitting meals between training sessions as the main reason why many athletes skip their meals. In this study, about 49% reported they do not eat before sporting activity, 23.67% eat 3hours before sports, 18.84% eat 2 hours before sport and 8.70% eat an hour before sport. The choice of eating before sports and what to eat depends on the type of sports and what goes well with each athlete and the need to enhance stamina, endurance, strength (Clark, 1997).
Foods mostly frequently consumed by athletes in this study were meat, fish, roots/tubers and cereals, vegetables and fruits. Milk and legumes were less frequent. High frequency of consumption of meat, fish and vegetables could have been attributed to the complementary relationship in demand which exist between these and root/tuber and their products.Inadequate carbohydrate intake can lead to chronic muscle fatigue since it is needed to fuel the muscle during exercise.
Although under-nutrition and over-nutrition were found among some athletes, mean values of both BMI and percentage body fats were within normal ranges, implying that, athletes had nutritional status adequate for their sport activity. With regards to food habits, most athletes performed poorly in frequency of meals intake but did well in intake of fluids. Diets of athletes need a revisit to determine nutrient adequacy, dietary diversity, energy expenditure and their relationships.
5.3 Conclusions
Several factors, including nutritional status and dietary pattern are paramount to optimum performance among athletes. Notwithstanding, risky behaviours that limit or impair athletic performance are widely prevalent among athletes; these include excessive weight reduction and inappropriate dietary practices. Foods most frequently consumed by athletes in this study were meat, fish, roots/tubers, cereals, vegetables and fruits. Milk and legumes were less frequently consumed by these athletes. Most of these athletes had nutritional status adequate for their sport activity. With regards to food habits, most of these athletes performed poorly in frequency of meals intake but did considerably well in intake of fluids. With regards to dietary pattern, sources of daily intakes comprised of mostly of meats, fish, roots and tubers, cereals and vegetables.
5.4 Recommendation
With regard to the findings of this study, the researcher recommended that;
- Dieticians and Nutritionists should educate the athletes in Nigeria on the need for a balanced and nutritionally adequate diets everyday, especially on the protein-rich foods in order to prevent microcytic anaemia and to improve efficiency and performance of the athletes.
- Fruits and fruit juices should be incorporated into the diets of the athletes to enhance iron absorption.
- The athlete should adhere strictly to the dos and don’ts of sport nutritionist/coaches which will help their athletic performance during competition.
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