Dominant Somatotype Development in Relation to Body Composition and Dietary Macronutrient Intake among High-Performance Athletes in Water, Cycling and Combat Sports.

Relevant properties of the somatotype as important indicators can be associated with the body composition characteristics as well as both metabolic and bio-mechanical efficiency of athletes in the sport concerned. The primary aim of this single cross-sectional study was to determine the somatotype profiles in association with body composition and nutritional profiles among Lithuanian elite athletes (n = 189) involved in water, cycling and combat sports. The body composition along with the somatotype profiles and the nutritional status of athletes were evaluated using a battery of multiple frequency (5, 50, 250, 550, and 1000 kHz) bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and a 3-day food record analysis. In terms of the prediction for athletes to be classified as endomorphs, mesomorphs or ectomorphs, the linear discriminant analysis was conducted to assess the grouping of samples. Both the multiple linear regression and multivariate logistic regression statistical analyses were performed to explore the associations between the independent and dependent variables. The central tendency values for the somatotype components of endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy in athletes playing water, cycling and combat sports were 4.3-4.9-3.4, 4.3-4.8-3.4 and 4.5-5.5-2.9, respectively. The central mesomorph somatotype with a trend towards endomorphy was dominant and varied according to a high muscle-to-fat ratio in elite athletes. Significant (p ≤ 0.001) positive associations between both endomorphy and mesomorphy values and higher body fat percentage as well as lower and upper limb muscle mass were identified. The lower levels of trunk muscle mass were related to athletes' endomorphy and mesomorphy, too. Furthermore, in the athletes' sample under analysis, high-level mesomorphs were prone to consume low-carbohydrate (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2; 0.9) and high-protein diets (AOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1; 5.5). Contrastingly, the elite athletes with a higher expression of endomorphy were on high-carbohydrate (AOR 5.4, 95% CI 1.1; 8.3) and high-fat diets (AOR 4.6, 95% CI 1.5; 7.1) along with insufficient protein diet (AOR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1; 0.9). Finally, whilst nutrition goals as a mediator can play a significant role in undergoing the maintenance of balance between the optimal body composition for athletic performance and the development of an ecto-mesomorphic somatotype, the elite athletes with higher levels of endomorphy value should be aware of lowering the body fat percentage coupled with dietary fat reduction and higher protein intakes. The findings obtained from the study may serve as an antecedent for a more targeted management of the elite athletes' training process. Somatotyping as an additional assessment method can be successfully deployed in choosing correct coaching techniques, contributing to talent recognition processes or identifying reference morphometric parameters in elite athletes competing in water, cycling and combat sports.

Self-Perceived Stress in Association with Emotional Experiences Following Patient Death and Coping Adequacy among Clinical Nurses in Lithuania: A Cross-Sectional Study.

(1) Background: Stress is defined as a psychological sensation related to a change in both human physiology and behavior in response to a threat or challenge. As the prevalence of stress is increasing globally, nurses represent a risk group for exposure to stress-related psychological alterations. The aim of this study was to explore how clinical nurses in Lithuania cope with the perceived chronic stress in relation to additional emotional experiences following the death of a patient. (2) Methods: During a four-week period of October 2023, a total of 283 female nurses, aged between 20 and 70 years old, were enrolled in a single cross-sectional study. The PSS-10 (perceived stress scale) and the Brief-COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) questionnaires were applied to assess the level of self-perceived stress and the use of coping styles along with the adequate strategies. Furthermore, the nurses' emotions, evoked following patient death, were classified depending on their valence. Both the multiple linear and logistic regression statistical analyses were conducted to examine the associations between dependent and independent variables. (3) Results: The study identified that more than half of the nurses experienced patient death several times a month. A moderate-to-high level of the symptoms of mental chronic stress were suffered by 76% of caregivers. The psychological arousal following the death of a patient may induce the occurrence of emotional complexity that refers to competitive feelings, namely, helplessness (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 1.7, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1; 2.9), disappointment (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1; 3.5), anxiety (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2; 4.2), and guilt (ORadj 4.7, 95% CI 1.4; 5.7), and can serve as a potential trigger for chronic stress development in clinical nurses. In terms of emotion-focused stress control (ß 0.1, 95% CI -0.1; -0.2, R2 = 0.12), Lithuanian nurses had low control of the perceived chronic stress. The use of problem-focused coping (ß -0.2, 95% CI -0.3; -0.1, R2 = 0.09) was also not addressed to an appropriate extent. The use of the avoidance coping style was associated with moderate-high levels of chronic stress perceived by nurses (ß 0.5, 95% CI 0.4; 0.7, R2 = 0.24). Furthermore, the avoidant coping strategy related to behavioral disengagement was significantly related to resilience to chronic stress in an adverse way. The cognitive process of self-blame was considered as a meaningful maladaptive behavior component for magnifying chronic stress in nurses. (4) Conclusions: The study highlights the need to implement the recommendations for boosting the nurses' mental health. Hospitals should contribute to psychological assistance along with providing necessary training on stress-coping strategies for clinical nurses. In order to promote the sustainability of mental health through additional social support interventions, it would be useful to upgrade the clinical nurses' daily routines with mindfulness-based trainings.

Association between Variation in Body Fat Mass Magnitude and Intake of Nutrients, including Carbohydrates, Fat, and B Vitamins, in a Cohort of Highly Trained Female Athletes.

The most common sports nutrition strategies were constructed not only for maximizing musculoskeletal adaptations to exercise, but also to minimize health risks in athletes. Given the lack of research highlighting the potential effects of the intake of carbohydrates, fats, and B vitamins on body fat percentage in a population of female athletes, this study aimed to elucidate whether the intake of macronutrients and B vitamins could be associated with the variation in body fat percentage in a cohort of professional female athletes. This cross-sectional study was weighted to represent Lithuanian elite female athletes (n = 89). The dietary assessment of the female athletes was carried out using a 3-day dietary recall method. Their body composition was assessed using the bioelectrical impedance analysis method. For females, the reported average intakes of energy, carbohydrates, protein, and fat were 2475 kcal/day, 5.1 g/kg/day, 1.5 g/kg/day, and 36.7%, respectively. Excess B vitamin intake was revealed, ranging within plus 1-2 standard deviations (SDs) around the mean requirements. As a consequence, excessive body fat percentage was potentially factored as a negative outcome in maintaining optimal body composition in female athletes. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of a sample of female athletes revealed that, despite a slightly positive energy balance (∆ 95 kcal/day), the carbohydrate-deficient diet (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1; 0.7), along with higher intakes of vitamin B1 (aOR 2.9, 95% CI 2.6; 7.8), vitamin B2 (aOR 6.7, 95% CI 1.1; 8.3), and vitamin B3 (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.4; 7.8) from food, was associated with a lower percentage of body fat. Therefore, more attention should be given to the intake of B vitamins in professional athletes with a range of body fat mass percentages for the purpose of achieving long-term goals of maintaining body composition and fitness.

Dietary Intake of Protein and Essential Amino Acids for Sustainable Muscle Development in Elite Male Athletes.

Athletes need to develop a relatively high muscle mass and low body adipose tissue for the sake of better athletic performance. A full range of nine essential amino acids and eleven non-essential amino acids have to attend in appropriate amounts for protein biosynthesis. The aim of the observational comparative cross-sectional study was to assess the association between the diet quality profile and training-induced muscle mass estimated by bioelectrical impedance among elite male athletes. The research sample comprised 18.1 ± 3.1 year-old Lithuanian professional male athletes (n = 234). The study participants were enrolled to complete 24-h dietary recalls of three non-consecutive days. The body composition was assessed using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) method. The present study showed a significant insufficiency of the mean carbohydrate intake of 5.7 g/kg/day in a group of aerobic male athletes. The lower muscle mass of aerobic male athletes was related to the lower-carbohydrate diet (adjusted odd ratio (ORadj) 0.3; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-0.7). The mean protein intake of 1.8 g/kg/day was optimal for anabolism in the samples of both anaerobic and aerobic male athletes. The protein intake in appropriate doses was potentially associated with an increase in muscle mass only in anaerobic male athletes (ORadj 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3-3.7). The positive relationship was revealed between the possible muscle mass gain and the increased intakes of amino acids such as isoleucine and histidine among anaerobic athletes (ORadj 2.9; 95% CI: 1.1-4.7 and ORadj 2.9; 95% CI: 1.0-4.3, respectively). An inverse feasible association was indicated between a higher intake of valine and lower muscle mass quantities among anaerobic male athletes (ORadj 0.1; 95% CI: 0.1-0.5). The recommendations for sports nutritionists should emphasize the necessity of advising professional athletes on dietary strategies on how to manipulate dietary amino acid composition with respect to achieving long-term body composition goals.

Mental Health and Physical Activity of Female Higher Education Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study from Lithuania.

During emerging adulthood (EA), higher education medical students undergo a higher risk of anxiety and depression compared to the general population. The aim of this comparative cross-sectional study was to compare the proportions of three mental disorders, namely anxiety, depression and somatisation in terms of their symptoms and self-reported physical activity (PA) levels across the cohorts of biomedical and non-biomedical female students as well as to assess the association between the mental health outcomes and PA use. Between September 2021 and January 2022, a total of 1231 female higher education students aged between 18 and 29 years old were recruited for the study. Severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as unexplained somatic complaints, were suffered by 51.9%, 11% and 23% of female students, respectively. Non-biomedical female students, compared to medicine and health sciences students, were more vulnerable due to the increased prevalence of negative mental health outcomes. The relationship between increased sports activity as a potential trigger for mental well-being and decreased severity of depressive symptoms was identified in the cohorts of both biomedical (adjusted odd ratio (ORadj) 0.4; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-1.0) and non-biomedical (ORadj 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.9) female students. The current research highlights the importance of increasing sports activity by involving students in regular physical exercise of specific types for decreasing the severity of depressive symptoms in student-aged female populations.

Potential Triggers for Risking the Development of Eating Disorders in Non-Clinical Higher-Education Students in Emerging Adulthood.

Nowadays, eating disorders (ED) among individuals during emerging adulthood have become a crucial challenge to public health, taking into account the fact that the global prevalence of the ED risk in student-aged populations already stands at 10.4% and has been sharply increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, from 50% to 80% of all the ED cases go undetected or are not correctly diagnosed; moreover, these individuals do not receive specialized treatment. Therefore, early diagnosis detected via screening questionnaires for ED is highly recommended. This study aimed to identify the triggers for ED risk development in emerging-adulthood individuals and to reveal the factors significant not only for ED prevention but also for assessing individuals with subthreshold symptoms. This cross-sectional study provides the results for the ED symptom screening in 1716 Lithuanian higher-education students aged 21.2 ± 3.9, during emerging adulthood. According to the results of this study, 19.2% of students were at risk for ED. Potential risk factors such as sex (odds ratio (OR): 3.1, 95% CI: 1.9-4.9), body weight (self-reported body mass index) (adjusted (A) OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.2-1.7) and comorbidities such as smoking (AOR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.6-2.8), and perceived stress during the pandemic (AOR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1-1.8) are involved in anticipating the symptomatology of ED during emerging adulthood. Regular initial screenings with universally adopted questionnaires and further referral to a psychiatrist must be applied to promote both the diagnosis of early-onset symptomatology and the treatment of these ED in student-aged populations. Preventive programs for reducing the prevalence of overweight or obesity among students during emerging adulthood should focus on integration directions for the development of a positive body image.

The Association between Rapid Weight Loss and Body Composition in Elite Combat Sports Athletes.

Rapid Weight Loss (RWL) is a rapid reduction in weight over a short period of time seeking to attain the norm required for a competition in a particular weight category. RWL has a negative health impact on athletes including the significant muscle damage induced by RWL. This study aimed to identify the association between RWL and body composition among competitive combat athletes (n = 43) in Lithuania. Our focus was laid on the disclosure of their RWL practice by using a previously standardized RWL Questionnaire. The body composition of the athletes was measured by means of the standing-posture 8-12-electrode multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and the electrical signals of 5, 50, 250, 550 and 1000 kHz. This non-experimental cross-sectional study resulted in preliminary findings on the prevalence and profile of RWL among combat athletes in Lithuania. 88% of the athletes surveyed in our study had lost weight in order to compete, with the average weight loss of 4.6 ± 2% of the habitual body mass. The athletes started to resort to weight cycling as early as 9 years old, with a mean age of 12.8 ± 2.1 years. The combination of practiced weight loss techniques such as skipping meals (adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR) 6.3; 95% CI: 1.3−31.8), restricting fluids (AOR 5.5; 95% CI: 1.0−31.8), increased exercise (AOR 3.6; 95% CI: 1.0−12.5), training with rubber/plastic suits (AOR 3.2; 95% CI: 0.9−11.3) predicted the risk of RWL aggressiveness. RWL magnitude potentially played an important role in maintaining the loss of muscle mass in athletes during the preparatory training phase (ß −0.01 kg, p < 0.001). Therefore, an adequate regulatory programme should be integrated into the training plans of high-performance combat sports athletes to keep not only the athletes but also their coaches responsible for a proper weight control.