Dietary assessment of five male sports teams in Greece

Abstract

Healthy and suitable nutrition plays an important role in the athletic performance providing the long‐term needs of training and the short‐term needs of competition. In Greece, despite the great interest in sports since ancient times, there is no adequate information regarding the dietary practices and the nutritional status of the athletes today. The anthropometric characteristics and dietary intakes of 47 e´lite male athletes of five different sport teams: rowers, volleyball players, cyclists, weightlifters and distance runners were assessed in this study. Dietary data were collected during the competitive period. The study showed that, although the athletes reported an adequate mean energy and micronutrient intake, the intake of macronutrients was not in balance. Volleyball players and distance runners had lower than recommended carbohydrate intakes, not meeting their fuel requirements. Weightlifters had the highest overconsumption of fat at the expense of carbohydrates. This calls for an urgent need of nutrition education for the athletes in Greece, in order to improve their diet and achieve an optimum athletic performance.