Eating Perception, Nutrition Knowledge and Body Image among Para-Athletes: Practical Challenges in Nutritional Support.

Miwako Deguchi,Akira Ogita,Nobuko Hongu,Hitoshi Watanabe,Daiki Imai,Kazunobu Okazaki,Yuta Suzuki,Hisayo Yokoyama

doi:10.3390/nu13093120

Abstract

Limited information exists on dietary practices in para-athletes. The aim of this study was to clarify the actual situation of para-athletes’ dietary practice and to sort out the factors (i.e., eating perception, nutrition knowledge, and body image), that may hinder their dietary practices, and explored the practical challenges in nutritional support and improving nutrition knowledge for para-athletes. Thirty-two Japanese para-athletes (22 men) and 45 collegiate student athletes without disabilities (27 men) participated in the online survey. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, eating perception, dietary practices, and nutrition knowledge. The Japanese version of the body appreciation scale was used to determine their body image. Para-athletes who answered that they knew their ideal amount and way of eating showed significantly higher body image scores (r = 0.604, p < 0.001). However, mean score for nutrition knowledge of para-athletes were significantly lower than collegiate student athletes (19.4 ± 6.8 vs. 24.2 ± 6.1 points, p = 0.001). Both groups did not identify a dietitian as the source of nutrition information or receiving their nutrition advice. The results indicate para-athletes have unique eating perceptions and inadequate nutrition knowledge. Future interventions are needed to examine nutritional supports and education in relation to the role of dietitians.

Highlights

As physical activity provides health benefits for everyone, a global push is underway to increase physical activity and the participation in sports for people with and without disabilities [1]
In 2021, 22 athletic events were scheduled in the Paralympic Games, which were held on 24 August to 5 September in Tokyo, Japan [9]
Our main findings were that para-athletes who answered they were practicing the ideal way of eating showed significantly higher body image scores (Figure 1a), while the mean score for nutrition knowledge of para-athletes was significantly lower than that of collegiate student athletes (Table 4)

Summary

Introduction

As physical activity provides health benefits for everyone, a global push is underway to increase physical activity and the participation in sports for people with and without disabilities [1]. Proactive nutrition support by sports dietitians can optimize training outcomes, namely ideal body composition, functional and metabolic adaptations of body, and the performance in the competitions [10,15,16,17]. These nutrition plans need to be personalized to the individual athlete with or without disabilities depending on sports or playing characteristics, and to make performance peak in targeted competitions [18]. The practice of sports nutrition for athletes is the key to the best performance in competitions, and a building block of conditioning such as early recovery from fatigue and of prevention of sports injuries and poor physical condition

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion