The effect of nutrition education sessions on energy availability, body composition, eating attitude and sports nutrition knowledge in young female endurance athletes.

Nutrition knowledge plays a pivotal role in shaping dietary habits and food choices, particularly in the realm of sports nutrition. This study investigates the effects of a series of nutrition education sessions conducted by a registered dietitian on energy availability, various anthropometric measurements, eating attitudes, and sports nutrition knowledge in young female endurance athletes aged 15-18 years (football, basketball, volleyball) who engage in training for more than 10 h per week (n = 83). Participants were randomly divided into two groups with 45 individuals receiving six physical nutrition education lectures, and the remaining 38 participants receiving no nutrition education. Participants completed the low energy availability in females questionnaire (LEAF-Q), Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), and Sports Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (SNKQ). Energy and nutrient intakes were evaluated through 3-day food records, while exercise energy expenditure was assessed using 3-day activity logs. All of the questionnaires were repeated after 6 months. At baseline, the prevalence of LEA among athletes was determined to be 63.8%. In the intervention group, energy availability (EA) and SNKQ scores increased, and LEAF-Q scores decreased significantly (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant change in EAT-26 scores between the two groups. Energy intake, weight, fat-free mass, and resting metabolic rate have been increased significantly in the intervention group (p < 0,05). These findings suggest that nutrition education proves beneficial in enhancing dietary intake, positively influencing body composition, and improving nutrition knowledge, ultimately contributing to increased energy availability in female athletes over the short term.

Assessment of hydration status of elite young male soccer players with different methods and new approach method of substitute urine strip.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study is to determine and compare the hydration status with different methods and determine fluid intake, dehydration percentages and sweat rate of 26 young male soccer players (15 ± 1.2 years) before an important competition. More specifically, the study aims at validating the urine strip and advising the players to use it as an easy and practical method. METHODS: Measurements of urine analysis were taken from the urine sample of the participants before breakfast and conducted for 3 consecutive days before the competition. Hydration status was assessed through analysis of urine color, urine specific gravity (USG) (laboratory, strip, refractometry), and osmolality. The players' dehydration percentages and sweat ratio were calculated. RESULTS: The average values for all samples were 3 ± 1 for color, and 1.021 ± 4 g/cm(3) for USG (laboratory), and 1.021 ± 3 g/cm(3) for USG (strip), and 1.021 ± 4 for USG (refractometry), and 903 ± 133 mOsm/kg for osmolality. USG (strip) was highly correlated with USG (laboratory), USG (refractometry) (r = 0.8; P < 0.01) and osmolality (r = 0.7; P < 0.01), and moderately correlated with urine color (r = 0.4; P < 0.05). The mean dehydration percentage and sweat rate of the soccer players were observed as 0.5 % and 582.3 ± 232.0 mL/h, respectively. CONCLUSION: We found that youth soccer players are under a slight risk of dehydration under moderate weather conditions. As indicated by the research results, determination of hydration status of athletes must be taken into account more carefully under moderate and hot weather conditions. In addition, hydration methods were compatible with one another as measured in this study.