EVALUATION OF EATING PATTERNS AND SELECTED TRAINING INDICES OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETES

Abstract

Proper nutrition is an essential part of an athlete improving performance. Therefore, the purpose on this preliminary investigation was to survey intercollegiate athletes on nutritional patterns and selected indices of training. Two hundred and eighty nine athletes 19.6 +/− 1.45 yrs (males 58/%, females 42/%) representing 17 athletic teams from one university completed the surveys. All surveys were given to each athlete during pre season physical screenings. Eighty-seven percent of the athletes rated their current level of performance to be adequate or above average. In addition, collegiate athletes on average felt that eating and performance was somewhat related (7.5 on a scale of 1–10). However, athletes tended to agree with the statement that their meals were more nutritious on week-days compared to weekends (6.9 on a scale of 1–10). In support of this, athletes reported on weekends to consume more junk food (47.9/%) and alcoholic beverages (79.2/%) than on weekdays. The female athletes (84/%) reported consuming more alcoholic beverage compared to the males (75/%) on weekends. However, males (50/%) reported to eat more junk food on the weekends then females (44/%). Fifty-five percent of the athletes are currently not taking a multi-vitamin. In addition, only 30% of athletes practice grazing (5+ meals per day) while 10.7/% eat two or less meals per day. Fifty-three percent of the collegiate athletes had reported a daily consumption of water equal to or less than 5 cups (60/% for females and 47/% for males). In addition to practice, 68.5/% of the athletes reported additional physical training during the season. The athletes that did additional practices, worked out at an average of 5.8+/−3.51 hours each week. Out of these athletes, the males' (6.17+/−3.66) did more additional hours of practices then the females (4.99+/− 3.03). When asked to rank the reasons additional work outs were accomplished, the athletes ranked their first choice to be improve performance (60/%) and their second choice to control weight (34/%). While these athletes considered nutrition to be somewhat related to performance, the nutrition habits of these athletes were less than adequate.