Selected personal conditions determining the frequency of consuming groups of products among athletes professionally training individual sports disciplines

Abstract

PurposeEvaluation of the frequency of consuming food products depending on sex, age, and level of self-efficacy, optimism and life satisfaction in a group of athletes professionally training individual sports disciplines.MethodsThe research was performed among 346 individuals (214 men and 132 women). The author’s personal consumption questionnaire, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test-Revised, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were used. The Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> Test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients served to analyse the results.ResultsWomen more often consumed vegetables, milk, and curd cheeses with reduced fat content; men more often consumed legume seeds, whole-fat curds, pork, vegetable juices, and energy drinks. The statistical analysis showed a positive correlation between the intensity of sense of efficacy and the frequency of consuming legume seeds, semi-skimmed milk, poultry, and isotonic drinks. The level of optimism was negatively correlated with the frequency of consuming light bread, sugary beverages, and energy drinks, while it positively correlated with the frequency of consuming fruit juices. Along with the increase in life satisfaction, the frequency of consumption of wholemeal bread increased, while that of fast food products decreased. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that along with age, the respondents more often included poultry and mineral water in their diets, and significantly less often consumed whole-fat milk, pork, sweets, and pastries.ConclusionsFood choices varied depending on sex, age, and level of efficacy, dispositional optimism and life satisfaction.