Abstract
Background: Nutrition is an important factor for sports performance and the assessment of dietary intakes in athletes can correct unhealthy eating habits. However, dietary assessment may be biased due to misreporting. The aim of our study was to investigate the occurrence of misreporting in a sample of collegiate team sport athletes. Methods: A total of 50 athletes participated. Each athlete filled in food records for seven days. Reported energy intake (EI) was considered in relation to the predicted basal metabolic rate (BMR) and expressed as the ratio EI/ BMR. All participants with EI/BMRestd ≤1.23 were classified as “low energy reporters” (LER), and those with an EI/BMRestd ratio >1.23 were classified as “adequate energy reporters” (AER). Results: According to cut-off values for under-reporting, 28 out of 50 athletes (56%) were classified as LER. The LER (16 M/12 F) had significantly higher BMI (23.17 ± 3.46 kg/m2 compared to 21.41 ± 1.91 kg/m2; p = 0.038) than the AER. The EI/kg fat free mass (FFM) was significantly lower in LER than the AER (33.34 ± 6.56 kcal/FFM compared to 48.51 ± 8.59 kcal/FFM, p < 0.0001). Nutrient intake was also significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: Our results suggest that under-reporting of energy intake by collegiate team sport athletes may occur frequently and needs to be taken into consideration in the interpretation of nutrient intake.
Highlights
Adequate dietary intake and the correct balance of macronutrients and micronutrients, with appropriate timing to enhance performance and recovery, will enable athletes to train and perform optimally [1]
Our results suggest that under-reporting of energy intake by collegiate team sport athletes may occur frequently and needs to be taken into consideration in the interpretation of nutrient intake
Our results confirm a high percentage of under-reporting among team sport collegiate athletes even if this percentage is lower than what was reported in previous studies conducted in team sport athletes such as soccer, rugby, and artistic gymnastics [36,37,38]
Summary
Adequate dietary intake and the correct balance of macronutrients and micronutrients, with appropriate timing to enhance performance and recovery, will enable athletes to train and perform optimally [1]. While there is a unanimous agreement on the need to design and implement nutrition-specific intervention programs for team sport players, there is scarce information on the eating habits and correlations of the nutritional behavior of these players. Understanding the influence of these factors is essential for the design and implementation of effective dietary and nutrition education programs, in order to optimize performance and health through nutrient intake. Several authors tried to assess the team’s food intake by using different dietary assessment methods [7,8,9]. Nutrition is an important factor for sports performance and the assessment of dietary intakes in athletes can correct unhealthy eating habits.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
