Prediction of Athletic Performance through Nutrition Knowledge and Practice: A Cross-Sectional Study among Young Team Athletes

Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess the nutrition knowledge, practice, and status and to identify the nutritional and body composition factors predicting athletes' performance. Young team athletes including 40 footballers and 50 hockey players were recruited in this study (age 16.48±1.5) to assess the nutrition knowledge (NK), nutrition practice (NP), and 24-hour dietary recall using a semi-structured questionnaire. Physical characteristics, including height, weight and body mass index (BMI), along with static strength-handgrip and relative back strength, were recorded. Fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), muscle mass (MM), basal metabolic rate (BMR) and glycogen store was determined using a bioelectrical impedance analyser. Aerobic capacity (VO 2 max) was measured with a beep test. The majority of the athletes with good NK scores were found to have good NP scores as well and vice versa (χ2=23.861, p=0.000). Their mean recorded scores for NK and NP were found to be 11.13±3.6 and 7.30±2.0 out of a total of 20 and 12, respectively. Daily consumption of protein (β=0.336; p value=0.004), sodium (β=0.273; p value=0.006) and dietary fibre (β=0.220; p value=0.002) were found to be the best predictors for nutritional practice. Nutrition knowledge and practice had significant positive correlation with BMR (0.314***; 0.419***), calcium intake (0.248*; 0.482***), iron intake (0.303***; 0.221*) and VO 2 max (0.331***; 0.428***), respectively. Daily calorie consumption (β=0.144, p=0.029), BMR (β=0.304, p<0.001***), MM (β=0.213, p=0.020), calcium (β=0.275, p=0.001) and iron intake (β=0.240, p=.001) were the significant predictors of athletic performance. Therefore, good nutrition knowledge may improve the nutritional habits and dietary pattern of athletes. Body composition and nutrient intake can predict athletic performance. Intervention studies should emphasize nutrition education aiming for improved athletic performance.

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“…As stated in previous research [2], the key for the development of this journal is 2017, when the journal was indexed in the "Scopus" database, since when the citation has been on the rise. A good indicator of the progressive growth of this journal are the scientific papers of eminent researchers published during 2019 [24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]. It is important to emphasize that the journal has maintained constant growth, which is confirmed by the findings of this study and there is a real possibility that it will enter the most prestigious database "Web of Science".…”

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