Evaluation of the eating habits of Polish esports players using the Quick Dietary Survey (QDS)

Abstract

Background: Proper diet is crucial for the health and physical fitness for bothtraditional sport and esport. The study aimed to evaluate eating behaviours of elitePolish esports players using the QDS questionnaire.Methods: It was conducted on a group of 188 men aged 18-29 years, and a proprietarystandardized questionnaire for rapid dietary assessment (QDS) was utilized. A chi-square test was used for the statistical analysis, assuming a significance level of p<0.05. Results: The results indicate that among surveyed esports players, the largestpercentage of them adhered to the dietary recommendations related of fluid intake(75%), replenishing fluids during exercise (72.3%), consuming cereal products (67.6%),considering the recommended number of meals (62.2%), and adequately hydratingafter exercise (60.1%). The study found that the most frequent dietary irregularitieswere usage of dietary supplements without consulting a doctor or nutritionist (75.9%),low consumption of meat substitutes (66.5%), and inadequate intake of recommendedproducts such as pulses (64.4%), fish (62.8%), vegetables (53.3%), and whole graincereal products (51.1%).The study group was dominated by players characterised bylow (44.7%) and average (40.4%) levels of implementation of dietaryrecommendations, as indicated by the nutrition score used. A higher level of rationaldietary choices was observed in 14.9% of the group. Statistical analysis revealed nosignificant differentiation of the analysed dietary behaviours between professional andsemi-professional players (p > 0.05).Conclusions: The Quick Diet Survey (QDS) questionnaire used in the study is avaluable and reliable tool for rapid diet assessment. Therefore, the high prevalence ofinappropriate eating behaviours among esports players highlights the need fornutrition education.