Why Do Athletes Pursue A Well Balanced Diet?

A comprehensive understanding of nutrition reflected by diet is somewhat expected of the athletic community however this is not always the case and is not necessarily considered a high priority (1, 2). A high quality, appropriate diet is essential for elite athletes to enhance physical performance, enable physiological adaptions to training, replenish energy and aid recovery post exercise (3, 4). Extensive training and competition exposes an athlete’s body to an enormous amount of stress thus a good diet can support the immune system and help recovery from illness (3, 4). Athlete’s nutritional requirements exceed that of the general population due to greater energy expenditure through vast amounts of training and competition (5). Physical performance

has explored the various reasons why many athletes fail to consume a well balanced diet (1). In some instances athletes seek nutrition guidance from their coaches however this is not always the most effective method as the knowledge of the coach can be limited and biased (1). It has been found in Australia that 88% of exercise professionals such as coaches have limited if any nutrition training thus there is an increased likelihood of poor quality information being conveyed to athletes (12). Coaches also place pressure on body image through expressing concerns of excess weight, which may affect athletic performance(1). In consideration of this, it may prove effective to target not only athletes but coaches also during nutrition education programs. Some athletes feel pressured to have an “ideal” body shape to obtain sponsorship deals (1). Sponsors tend to select based on appearance rather than athletic ability thus many athletes compromise energy intake to gain contracts (1, 10). It is common for athletes to juggle their chosen sport with many other commitments such as study, work and a social life. Training is very intensive and can involve 20 hours a week for some (3). This time restraint is responsible for an inadequate diet in many athletes as they feel they are always on the go and don’t have time to prepare meals (1, 9, 13). Lastly, the demographics of an athletes that can also impact their nutritional intake (9). Age, sex, education, culture, religion,

A study by Valliant et al. examined the influence of nutrition education to athletes through four sessions with a dietitian (7). Nutrition knowledge and dietary intake was assessed both pre and post intervention. Prior to intervention, all athletes consumed less than required for all macronutrients. Post intervention, the results indicated an increase in energy intake of all participants although only 18% of the athletes came close to meeting their full estimated requirements (7). Average protein and carbohydrate intake increased to meet 72% and 66% of nutritional requirements respectively (7). Although the sample size of this study was extremely small there are other studies, which have expressed similar findings(15). A further limitation is the results stemmed from college athletes therefore their concern for nutrition may be lacking in comparison to elite athletes. Research by Spronk et al. revealed that athletes who received previous dietary intervention from a dietitian scored much higher in both nutrition knowledge and diet quality assessment than those without although the results were very weakly but positively correlated with a better dietary intake (10). Conversely other research has identified that nutrition knowledge does not always equal a better diet. Other studies have revealed findings with weak or even null results (16-18).