Initial investigation of nutrition and supplement use, knowledge and attitudes of under-16 rugby players in South Africa

Background. Internationally young athletes are reported to have a poor understanding of the principles of sports nutrition and supplement use; hence their diet may be unhealthy and inappropriate for  participation in sport. There is limited research on current nutritional knowledge and attitudes of under-16  (U16) age-group level rugby players in South Africa (SA).Objectives. To assess dietary- and supplement-related knowledge and attitudes of 198 U16  national-level rugby players in SA.Methods. Over a period of four consecutive years a total of 198 players attending nutrition workshops at the annual selection camp received and completed an anonymous structured questionnaire.   Anthropometric measures (weight, height and skinfolds) were gathered by registered biokineticists.Results. Of players 87% (168/193) indicated that they wanted to increase lean muscle mass, with 42% (82/194) feeling pressurised to do so by their coach and/or parents. Almost half (85/196) believed their diets to be poor. Players had better knowledge about nutrition recovery strategies than pre-game meals. Seventy per cent (136/195) identified optimal timing and 56% (109/196) knew the ideal macronutrient composition of recovery meals. Over 60% of players believed  supplements were safe (115/192) and necessary (132/193) for increasing muscle mass, and almost half (106/195) believed they could take creatine. Over a third (68/170) also believed that the protein quality of supplements was higher than that of food. Supplements were primarily recommended by coaches and non-dietetic medical practitioners. Eight of the players self-prescribed supplements and four were taking supplements on the advice of a store salesperson or representative.Conclusion. The elite U16 rugby players in this study lacked comprehensive sports nutritional  knowledge, yet had an overly positive attitude toward  supplementation and used supplements  haphazardly to achieve body composition goals. Tailor-made nutrition interventions with a strong education component are recommended to improve players’ nutritional knowledge, as well as access to registered dietitians working in sport to advise on supplements

Nutritional supplement practices of professional Ugandan athletes: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background The use of nutritional supplements (NS) places athletes at great risk for inadvertent doping. Due to the paucity of data on supplement use, this study aimed to determine the proportion of Ugandan athletes using nutritional supplements and to investigate the athletes’ motivation to use these supplements. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in which an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 359 professional athletes participating in individual (boxing, cycling, athletics) and team (basketball, rugby, football, netball, and volleyball) sports. The data were categorized, and a Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results Of the 359 athletes, 48 (13.4%) used nutritional supplements. Carbohydrate supplements, energy drinks, vitamin and mineral supplements, fish oils, and protein supplements were the most common supplements used by athletes. NS use was significantly more common among athletes who played rugby and basketball (X 2 = 61.101, p < 0.0001), athletes who had played the sport for 5-10 years (X 2 = 7.460, p = 0.024), and athletes who had attained a tertiary education (X 2 = 33.377, p < 0.0001). The athletes’ occupation had no bearing on whether they used supplements. Nutritionists/dieticians, retail stores and pharmacies were the most common sources of NS products, whereas health practitioners, online media and teammates were the most common sources of information regarding NS. Most athletes used NS to improve their physical performance and health. Conclusions Compared to NS use by athletes elsewhere, NS use among Ugandan athletes was low. However, determinants of athlete NS use in the current study (category of sport and duration of time spent playing the sport) are similar to those reported elsewhere