Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyse differences in the thickness of the patellar (PT) and Achilles tendons (AT) among athletes with different number of meals per day. The design is a cross-sectional, observational study. A total of thirty-six male athletes (with mean age groups ranging from 31 to 40) were recruited and divided into three groups based on the number of daily meals they had (3, 4 or 5 meals). PT and AT were assessed by ultrasound. There were statistically significant differences in PT when comparing groups 1 and 3, at both longitudinal (p < 0.03) and transversal (p < 0.002) planes. There were no differences when comparing groups 1 and 2 or groups 2 and 3. There was a negative correlation between the number of meals per day and tendon thicknesses in both PT (longitudinal plane: r = −0.384; p = 0.02/transversal plane: r = −0.406; p = 0.01) and AT (transversal plane: r = −0.386; p = 0.02). In conclusion, there were patellar tendon thickness differences between participants and the number of daily meals could play a key role in tendon thickness, healing and performance.

Highlights

  • Running is one of the most popular sports activities and the number of studies focus on runners and related injuries are increasing [2,3]

  • The recruitment included a total of 42 participants, with six participants who did not cessively taken

  • The recruitment included a total of 42 participants, with six participants who did not criteria because of the presence of pain

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Summary

Introduction

The Achilles (AT) and patellar (PT) tendons are commonly altered among athletes, and in runners [1]. Running is one of the most popular sports activities and the number of studies focus on runners and related injuries are increasing [2,3]. The Achilles tendinitis present has an incidence of9.1–10.9% in runners, and patellar tendinitis has an incidence of 5.5–22.7%, being among the most frequent injuries in sports [4,5]. It is thought that high loading rates, when combined with suboptimal technique, may produce aberrant strain to lower extremity tendons, contributing to microtrauma that may trigger tendinopathies [6,7]. Tendinopathy and tendon rupture are associated with obesity and associated metabolic conditions, such as insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia [8]

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