Abstract
Abstract Aims: To understand how participating in a Nutrition & Health Education program (NHEP) affected the way rhythm gymnasts and their coaches perceive their food practices. Methods: Qualitative study portraying a case study of a NHEP specifically designed for a rhythm gymnastic team. The NHEP was conducted at the training facilities. Fourteen rhythm gymnasts, consisting of the team that represents a city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and their two coaches participated in the study. Athletes and coaches were interviewed about their perceptions and food practices before and after a 9-month NHEP designed specifically for them. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim. Two categories emerged from the discourses and were analyzed using the content analysis: “beliefs and feeding practices” and “construction of a positive relationship with food”. Results: Athletes reported changes in their food practices related to the themes discussed with them in the NHEP, such as daily breakfast intake, higher intake of fruits, vegetables, milk products, and wholegrain foods. Conclusion: The NHEP allowed specific demands of the athletes to be identified and addressed, generating awareness and motivation to positive changes in eating practices.
Highlights
Nutrition Education is an important strategy for the promotion of healthy food practices, the development of a culture of sustainable consumption and the appreciation of traditional food culture[1]
I started to compete in larger competitions, and I began to realize that I was very overweight, that I had to be with the perfect body, I began to take more care of myself (RG1, 15y)
We identified how the Nutrition & Health Education program (NHEP) generated reflection on food practices and motivated athletes' to changes how they relate to food
Summary
Nutrition Education is an important strategy for the promotion of healthy food practices, the development of a culture of sustainable consumption and the appreciation of traditional food culture[1]. National[4,5,6] and international[7,8,9] studies that evaluated the quality of the diet showed that athletes' dietary intake presents similar characteristics to those of the general population, with low consumption of fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products, and high consumption of simple sugar-rich food. They do not meet specific energy and nutrient recommendations that optimize their athletic performance. Analyzing a training day of the Brazilian RG team, Porpino[12] described the pressure on the athletes to achieve an ideal body mass through daily weighing, which may imply, if they have negative results, the athlete's exclusion from the team and the development of disorders and diseases due to the rigor of weight control may occur
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