Effect of a Nutritional Intervention in Athlete's Body Composition, Eating Behaviour and Nutritional Knowledge: A Comparison between Adults and Adolescents.
The objective of the present study is to evaluate and compare the effect of a nutritional intervention between adolescent and adult. In a before and after quasi-experimental clinical study, 32 athletes (21 adults, age range 20-32 years; 11 adolescents, age range: 12-19 years) participated in a nutritional counselling consisting of four consultations separated by an interval of 45 to 60 days. The athlete's eating behaviour, body composition and nutrition knowledge were evaluated at the beginning and at the end of the protocol. Both groups increased lean body mass and nutritional knowledge. Adolescents increased their mid-arm muscle circumference and improved meal frequency, and daily water intake. Athletes of both groups improved their ingestion of vegetables and fruits and decreased the ingestion of sweets and oils. Adolescents showed a higher prevalence of individuals that remained within or approached to the recommendations of sweets. This is the first study to evaluate and compare the effect of a nutritional intervention between adolescent and adult athletes body composition, eating behaviour and nutritional knowledge. The nutritional counselling has been effective in promoting beneficial changes on the athlete's eating behaviour, nutritional knowledge and body composition, however, some healthy changes were only experienced by adolescents, especially in the frequency of meals and the intake of sweets.
Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão 49100-000, Brazil. marcusnascimentone@gmail.com.
Marcus
M
Nascimento
Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão 49100-000, Brazil. daniellegoes@ufs.br.
Danielle
D
Silva
School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 01246-904, Brazil. smlribeiro@usp.br.
Sandra
S
Ribeiro
Department of Medicine, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão 49100-000, Brazil. nunes.ma@ufs.br.
Marco
M
Nunes
Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão 49100-000, Brazil. mb.almeida@gmail.com.
Marcos
M
Almeida
School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 01246-904, Brazil. raquelufs@gmail.com.
Raquel
R
Mendes-Netto
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D014675:Vegetables; D055815:Young Adult
athletes; body composition; eating behaviour; nutritional intervention