THE AWARENESS OF YOUNG ATHLETES REGARDING THEIR

NUTRITIONAL NEEDS

Student: Martin Ştefan Adrian

Coordinator: Tarcea Monica

University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Târgu Mureș

INTRODUCTION

Diet provides the essential foundations for long-term success.

The daily food intake has to maintain health and avoid the occurrence of injuries, assist in developing the best shape and, last but not least, it has to support the body in all the stages of training to bring the athlete to the start line of the competition.

A well-chosen diet offers many benefits for all athletes, regardless of gender, age or level of competition. Despite these advantages, many athletes do not achieve the objectives of nutrition.

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of young athletes in the field of sports nutrition.

Material and Method: we performed the study based on a questionare on 100 pupils from “Szász Adalbert” Sports High School in Târgu Mureş between november- december 2013.

76% males, 24% females.

Mean age: 17.84 years.

DAILY DIET - THE NUMBER OF DAILY MEALS

THE DAILY INTAKE OF FOOD

MENU PLANNING

THE IMPORTANCE OF MENU PLANNING

THE PUPILS’ KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FOODS THAT CONTAIN LIPIDS

THE IMPORTANCE OF LIPIDS

THE PUPILS’ KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FOODS THAT CONTAIN PROTEINS

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTEINS

THE PUPILS’ KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FOODS THAT CONTAIN CARBOHYDRATES

THE IMPORTANCE OF CARBOHYDRATES

NUMBER OF CORRECT ANSWERS REGARDING THE BASIC NUTRITION

QUESTIONS

CONCLUSIONS

The pupils’ nutrition education level is very low.

There is a lack of involvement of specialists, teachers and coaches who do not help the athlete with nutritional information.

The results are characterized by disordered eating, many sugars, fats, alchool and few vegetables, fruits, grains and lean meat.

One major goal and a solution would be a solid education in nutrition which could be done in schools. Such a goal could be achieved with the integration of nutrition education in the school curriculum.

THANK YOU!