title: Subjective Perception of Sports Performance, Training, Sleep and Dietary Patterns of Malaysian Junior Muslim Athletes during Ramadan Intermittent Fasting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the subjective perception of daily acute fasting on sports performance, training, sleep and dietary patterns of Muslim athletes during the Ramadan month.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven hundred and thirty-four (411 male and 323 female) Malaysian Junior-level Muslim athletes (mean age 16.3 ± 2.6 y) participated in the survey which was designed to establish the personal perception of their sport performance, sleep pattern, food and fluid intake during Ramadan fasting. The survey was conducted during and immediately after the month of Ramadan in 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four percent of the athletes perceived that there was an adverse effect of the Ramadan fast on their sporting performance and 29.3% reported that quality of training during Ramadan was also negatively influenced. Majority (48.2%) of the athletes stated that Ramadan fasting did not affect their normal sleep pattern but 66.6% of them complained of sleepiness during the daytime. Half of the athletes (41.4%) maintained the caloric intake during Ramadan as they normally would with the majority of them (76.2%) reporting that they consumed more fluids during Ramadan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, Malaysian Junior-level Muslim athletes showed diverse views in their perception of changes in their training, sleep and dietary patterns during Ramadan fast. These individual differences probably indicate differences in the athletes' adaptability and coping strategies during fasting and training in Ramadan.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam, 13200 Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Rabindarjeet
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Ooi Cheong
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Hwa
authors.forename: Jolly
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Chai Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Siti Musyrifah
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.forename: Mohamad Faizal
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: Loo Lean
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Hiong
authors.forename: Abdul-Rashid
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Aziz