Many Non-elite Endurance Multisport Athletes Do Not Meet Sports Nutritional Recommendations for Carbohydrates
Geneviève Masson Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 01 March 2016.
Little is known regarding the dietary intakes of non-elite athletes involved in endurance multisport events. The primary objective of this observational study was to characterize the dietary intake of non-elite athletes participating in winter triathlon (snowshoeing, skating and cross-country skiing), winter pentathlon (winter triathlon sports + cycling and running), Ironman (IM- swimming, cycling, running) and half-distance Ironman (IM70.3) in relation with current sports nutrition recommendations. A total of 116 non-elite athletes (32 women and 84 men) who have participated in one of those events in 2014 were included in the analyses. Usual dietary intake was assessed using an online validated food frequency questionnaire. Participants (22-66 years old) trained on average (± SD) 14.8 ± 5.3 hours/week.
Only 45.7% [95% confidence interval, 36.4-55.2%] of all athletes reported consuming the recommended intakes for CHO, with highest proportions (66.7%) seen in IM athletes. On the other hand, 87.1% [79.6-92.6%] of all non-elite athletes reported consuming at least 1.2 g protein/kg/d while 66.4% [57.0-74.9%] reported consuming more than 1.6 g protein/kg/d, again with highest values (84.6%) among IM athletes. There was no difference in the proportion of athletes achieving the CHO and protein intakes between men and women. These findings suggest that many endurance multisport non-elite athletes do not meet the current recommendations for carbohydrates, emphasizing the need for targeted nutritional education. Further research is needed to examine how under-reporting of food intake may have affected those estimates.