gms | German Medical Science

Objective: The aims of our study were (1) to determine the eating habits and nutritional status of Slovenian swimmers of different sex and age groups (2) to calculate their energy intake and expenditure and (3) to evaluate the use of dietary supplements.

Material/Methods: Forty-six swimmers (18 males and 28 females), aged 11–32 years participated in the study. They have fulfilled the dietary questionnaire and their nutritional status was assessed via a 7 day dietary record. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviation and frequencies) were used for the exploratory analysis. ANOVA was used to assess the differences in the energy intake/expenditure among the different sexes and age groups.

Results: The main results of our study have shown that the energy intake was 63 kcal/kg (58–69 kcal/kg) for males and 54 kcal/kg (51–58 kcal/kg) for females. Such energy intake met the estimated energy expenditure only in the youngest age group of both sexes (boys/girls), while in the all other age groups in females the energy intake was too low causing the negative energy balance (–16 kcal/kg to –6 kcal/kg). The results in males were better as only senior male swimmers had the negative energy balance (–6 kcal/kg). In general, Slovenian swimmers consume too little carbohydrates in their diet (31 % in males and 32 % in females) and too many fats (37 % in males and 29 % in females). Dietary supplements are used daily by 61 % of males and 54 % of females. In both sexes the most frequently used supplements are different energy drinks containing carbohydrates, while ergogenic aids (e.g. creatine) are used only youth and senior players.

Conclusion: Our findings are in concordance with previous studies that also reported a low carbohydrate intake in swimmers [1], [2]. We believe that increase of carbohydrate intake with concommitant decrease in fat intake would help regeneration process in swimmers and allow them to train and compete at more advanced level. The majority of increased fat intake can be attibuted to high intake of different milk (diary) products with high fat values.