Nutrient Intake of Adolescent Volleyball Players / 71

The authors are with the Laboratory of Sports Hygiene and Nutrition in the Depart-ment of Physical Education & Sport Science at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54 623,Thessaloniki, Greece.

71

Macro- and Micro-Nutrient Intake of AdolescentGreek Female Volleyball Players

Souzana K. Papadopoulou, Sophia D. Papadopoulou,and George K. Gallos

Adequate nutrition is critically important for the achievement of the adolescentathletes optimal performance. The purpose of the present study was to evaluatethe adequacy of macro- and micro-nutrients in the adolescent Greek femalevolleyball players diet. The subjects of the study consisted of 16 players whowere members of the Junior National Team (NP) and 49 players who partici-pated in the Junior National Championship (CP). Dietary intake was assessedusing a 3-day food record. Protein intake (16.0 4.9% of total energy intake)was satisfactory, whereas fat consumption (37.5 11.1%) was above recom-mended values and at the expense of carbohydrate intake (45.9 12.5%). Therewere no significant differences between NP and CP concerning the intake ofmacronutrients, except for the fat intake (when this is expressed in grams perday and grams per kilogram of body weight and the saturated fat intake, whichwere both higher in NP compared to CP players (p < .05). The mean energyintake was 2013 971 and 1529 675 kcal for NP and CP, respectively (p .05)in the percent values between NP and CP in CHO, fat, and protein daily intake. NPhad significantly higher values than CP (p < .05) in fat consumption when expressedin grams per day or in grams per kilogram of body weight. Also, the daily intake ofsaturated fat was higher in NP than CP (40 33 and 22 19 g, respectively; p < .05).

The micronutrient intake of athletes is shown in Table 3. The values of vita-mins B3, B12, and C were the only values that exceeded the Recommended DietaryAllowance (RDA; 25). The other micronutrients did not meet RDA values. Nosignificant differences were detected between NP and CP for micronutrient intake.

Discussion

The mean daily energy intake of adolescent Greek female volleyball players was1648 kcal, which was below the RDA. There was a significant difference in energy

Table 2 Macronutrient Intake of Athletes

Nutrient All NP CP

CarbohydrateEnergy ratio % 45.9 12.5 44.7 12.6 46.2 12.6Per day (g/day) 195 88 228 97 185 84Per weight (g/kg) 3.1 1.4 3.5 1.4 2.9 1.3Starch (g) 98 24 94 29 99 51

FatEnergy ratio % 37.5 11.1 40.8 11.4 36.5 10.9Per day (g/day) 73 49 98(a) 67 65(a) 40Per weight (g/kg) 1.1 0.8 1.6(b) 0.9 1.0(b) 0.7Saturated (g) 26 46 40(c) 33 22(c) 19

ProteinEnergy ratio % 16.0 4.9 14.7 5.0 16.4 4.8Per day (g/day) 62 26 67 25 60 26Per weight (g/kg) 1.0 0.4 1.0 0.4 1.0 0.5

Alcohol (g) 0.1 0.9 0 0 0.1 1.0Cholesterol (mg) 104 110 141 102 92 111Fiber (g) 13 7 15 6 13 8

Note. Values expressed as mean SD.aNP consumed significantly higher fat per day than CP (p < .05); bNP consumed significantlyhigher fat per weight than CP (p < .05); cNP consumed significantly higher saturated fat thanCP (p < .05).

Nutrient Intake of Adolescent Volleyball Players / 75

intake between NP and CP. Although the NP consumed more kilocalories than theCP, both groups failed to consume the recommended kilocalories for female volley-ball players of 44 kcal/kg (8), which is equal to the RDA value for a very activewoman (25). Energy consumption of the adolescent Greek female volleyball ath-letes in the present study also was less than the reported energy consumption offemale track and field athletes (29), female adolescent swimmers (3), female rowers(28), and gymnasts, figure skaters, and runners (24). Our results agree with otherstudies showing that adolescent female athletes tend to consume a diet deficient inkilocalories (23).

According to Scates (26), the energy during rallies in volleyball is supplied bythe phosphocreatine system by 90% and lactic acid system by 10%. On the otherhand, the aerobic system can contribute up to 50% during a volleyball game. Be-sides, the aerobic system is responsible for the later appearance of anaerobic thresh-old and the reduction of oxygen debt during game intervals. Further, the productionof ATP can occur both aerobically and anaerobically (26). So, the predominantsource of energy in sports like volleyball is carbohydrates, and that is why thecarbohydrate depletion is often the reason for fatigue during exercise (11). Athletesshould consume a high percentage of carbohydrates. Our athletes consumption ofcarbohydrates was 45.9% of the total energy intake, which is far less than thesuggested 60% (16). Our athletes also had smaller CHO intake compared to theathletes of other sports, both aerobic and anaerobic (3, 24, 28, 29).

CHO intake also should be expressed in terms of grams per kilograms of bodymass due to the fact that energy intake and body mass differ among athletes (27). Thesuggested amount of carbohydrates essential for a volleyball player is 5 to 10 g/kg of

Table 3 Micronutrient Intake of Athletes

All NP CPMean % Mean % Mean %

Nutrient RDA SD RDA SD RDA SD RDA

Vitamin A (Re) 800 544 495 68.0 666 584 83.3 505 462 63.1Vitamin B1 (mg) 1.1 0.9 0.5 81.8 1.0 0.4 90.9 0.9 0.5 81.8Vitamin B2 (mg) 1.3 1.2 0.6 92.3 1.4 0.8 107.7 1.1 0.6 84.6Vitamin B3

(mgNE) 15 20 19 133.3 20 12 133.3 21 12 140.0Vitamin B6 (mg) 1.5 0.8 0.7 53.3 0.9 0.4 60.0 0.8 0.4 53.3Vitamin B12 (mg) 2.0 2.3 1.7 115.0 2.5 1.5 125.0 2.3 1.7 115.0Folic acid (mg) 180 163 98 90.6 151 69 83.9 167 106 92.8Vitamin C (mg) 60 93 91 155.0 75 64 125.0 99 97 165.0Ca (mg) 1200 935 497 77.9 979 549 81.6 921 484 76.8Fe (mg) 15.0 7.9 4.0 52.7 9.2 3.7 61.3 7.5 4.0 50.0Mg (mg) 300 207 130 69.0 232 135 77.3 199 128 66.3Zn (mg) 12 7 5 58.3 6 4 50.0 7 4 58.3

76 / S.K. Papadopoulou, S.D. Papadopoulou, and Gallos

body mass (12). The subjects of this study did not manage to achieve that specifiedCHO recommendation. Carbohydrate consumption was only 3.1 g/kg of body mass.

Fat intake provided 37.5% of the total energy consumption of the athletes,while fat consumption should contribute 25% or less to the total energy intake (16).There was no difference between NP and CP in fat percentage intake. However, NPhad a higher intake of fat than CP when expressed in grams per day or grams perkilogram of body weight. Both NP and CP had a higher fat intake than female figureskaters, gymnasts, runners, and female track and field athletes (24, 29). Femaleadolescent swimmers had similar fat consumption with NP, while CP had lowervalues (3). All of the above athletes had higher fat contribution in energy intake thanrecommended, which also applied to our subjects.

The adolescent Greek female volleyball players consumed higher quantitiesof fat at the expense of carbohydrates. While acute and chronic fat supplementationhas been reported to have beneficial metabolic responses, like glycogen sparing,excess fat consumption also has been associated with lower plasma glucose utili-zation and lower performance (19). Many researchers share the opinion that high fatdiets hamper performance (10, 13). High fat diets also may provoke many healthproblems, and the best recommendation for endurance performance is a high CHOdiet (19). So, our subjects need to lower their fat percentage intake and increase theCHO.

The saturated fat intake of the present group of Greek athletes was high,26.6% of total fat intake. NP consumed more saturated fat than CP (40.4% vs. 22.2%of the total fat intake). This is the main reason why NP had a larger total energyintake than CP. It is suggested that NP need to alter their quality of diet in order tomeet daily energy needs (25). In other words, they need to eat more CHO.

The participants in this study had protein intakes as a percent of kilocalories of14.7% for NP and 16.4% for CP. The contribution of protein to the exercise expen-diture is only 6% and, in endurance sports, proteins may provide 10% of the totalexercise needs (4, 22). The increased protein requirements in adolescents, due togrowth demands, can be covered with the increased energy intake, as long as theyfollow appropriate nutrition guidelines. Thus, intake of 1215% of the total energyintake as protein is recommended for athletes (15).

The protein intake of our subjects was within this recommended percentage,but a little above the suggested amount for CP. NP had less protein consumptionthan gymnasts, figure skaters, runners, and track and field athletes, while CP had ahigher protein intake (24, 29). Both NP and CP had higher protein consumption thanadolescent swimmers and female rowers (3, 28). In general, athletes usually con-sume twice to three times the RDA value for protein (4). Increased protein consump-tion can lead to increased calcium excretion (17), which may turn out to be a seriousproblem for amenorrheal athletes (6).

The mean protein intake in the present study expressed relative to body masswas 1.0 g/kg. This amount was less than the suggested consumption for enduranceathletes, which is 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg (21) or 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg (5).

Alcohol and cholesterol consumption of our subjects was low, which is ben-eficial to their health. Fiber intake also was low, even lower and smaller than in otherfemale adolescent athletes (24). Fiber intake is essential for the optimal function ofthe gastrointestinal tube. So our athletes should increase the consumption of com-plex carbohydrates, which have a high fiber content.

Nutrient Intake of Adolescent Volleyball Players / 77

Our subjects had an average intake of micronutrients that met the RDA valueswith regard to vitamins C, B3, and B12, while they did not meet the RDA valuesregarding vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, calcium, iron, folic acid, magnesium, and zinc.There were no differences in any of the micronutrients between NP and CP. Adoles-cent female athletes tend to consume a diet deficient in micronutrients like folate,calcium, iron, and B complex vitamins (1, 8). Female rowers also showed meanintakes of calcium, magnesium, iron, B6, B12, and zinc below the RDA values.Gymnasts, figure skaters, and runners have been reported to consume iron and zincat less than RDA (24).

In conclusion, our athletes consumed an inadequate diet both in quantity andquality. The poor nutritional habits were due to carbohydrate underconsumption,which results in a higher fat contribution to energy intake. Nutrition counseling isessential in order for the volleyball players to increase carbohydrates while decreas-ing the fat content of their diets.

One of the first priorities of coaches and sports nutritionists should be theproper nutrition of their adolescent athletes. Many communication and interventionprograms are necessary in order to convince the athletes to follow the scientificguidelines. This is, most of the time, an extremely difficult task. On one hand, theconsumption of a high CHO diet is usually impractical (19) and, on the other hand,adolescents are often unwilling to conform to the rules. It should be mentioned thata diet adequate in all macro- and micro-nutrients is of extremely high significancefor adolescent athletes. Not only will a good diet boost their growth and perfor-mance, but it will act preventively against any future health disturbances.

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