Toward prevention of doping in youth sport: Cross-sectional analysis of correlates of doping tendency in swimming

Doping is recognized as one of the most important problems in sports, but a limited number of studies have investigated doping problems in youth athletes. This study aimed to evaluate doping tendency (potential doping behavior (PDB)) and correlates of PDB in youth age swimmers. The participants were 241 competitive swimmers (131 females; 15.3 ± 1.1 years of age, all under 18 years old). Variables included predictors and PDB (criterion). Predictors consisted of sociodemographic factors (gender and age), sport-related variables (i.e., experience in swimming and sport achievement), variables explaining coaching strategy and training methodology, consumption of dietary supplements (DS), knowledge about doping, and knowledge about sports nutrition and DS (KSN). In addition to the descriptive statistics and differences between genders, a multinomial regression using PDB as the criterion (negative-, neutral-, or positive-PDB, with a negative-PDB as the reference value) was calculated to define associations between predictors and criterion. With only 71% of swimmers who declared negative-PDB results indicated an alarming figure. Boys with better KSN were more negatively oriented toward positive-PDB (OR: 0.77, 95%CI: 0.60–0.95). In girls, lower competitive achievement was evidenced as a risk factor for neutral-PDB (OR: 0.39, 95%CI: 0.24–0.63). Also, higher neutral-PDB (OR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.81–0.96) and positivePDB (OR: 0.90, 95%CI: 0.83–0.99) were identified in girls who began with intensive training in younger age. Because of the alarming figures of PDB, there is an evident need for the development of systematic antidoping educational programs in youth swimming. In doing so, focus should be placed on girls who began intensive training at an earlier age and those who did not achieve high competitive results

Identification of factors associated with potential doping behavior in sports: A cross-sectional analysis in high-level competitive swimmers

Background: Doping behavior, including the misuse of performance-enhancing drugs, is currently a serious problem in sports, and the efficacy of preventive efforts directly depends on information regarding the associations among different precipitating factors (PF) and doping behavior. This study aimed to establish the PF of potential doping behavior (PDB) in competitive swimmers. Methods: The study included 301 swimmers from Slovenia (153 females, 16.4 \ub1 2.4 years), tested during the 2017 National Championship. Variables were collected by previously validated questionnaires, which included questions on sociodemographics, sports-related factors, consumption of dietary supplements, knowledge of doping, factors of hesitation, and doping-related factors (i.e., number of doping tests, opinion about the presence of doping in sport). The PDB (positive, neutral, or negative intention toward doping) was observed as a criterion, while other variables were included as predictors in multinomial regression analyses (with \u201cnegative\u201d as reference value), which additionally controlled for gender and age category (cadet-, junior-, and senior-level) as confounders. Results: The results confirmed higher susceptibility to doping in males (positive: odds ratio (OR): 2.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27\u20136.04), those swimmers who reported higher alcohol consumption (neutral: OR: 2.18, 95%CI: 1.06\u20134.16, positive: OR: 2.14, 95%CI: 1.05\u20134.37), and those regularly used dietary supplements (positive: OR: 3.62, 95%CI: 1.25\u201310.52). Competitive achievement in Olympic-(neutral: OR: 0.57, 95%CI: 0.41\u20130.81, positive: OR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.39\u20130.88), and non-Olympic disciplines (positive: OR: 0.54, 95%CI: 0.35\u20130.83) was protective against PDB. Swimmers who were more concerned about the negative social consequences of doping behavior (i.e., condemnation by family and friends) were less likely to declare a positive intention toward the PDB (family condemnation: OR: 0.69, 95%CI: 0.56\u20130.86, friends\u2019 condemnation: OR: 0.65, 95%CI: 0.52\u20130.80). Conclusions: The results of the study provide more precise insight into the specific factors associated with PDB in swimming. The established precipitating factors should be incorporated into targeted anti-doping campaigns in this sport

Prospective analysis of the influence of sport and educational factors on the prevalence and initiation of smoking in older adolescents from Croatia

The prevalence of smoking among Croatian adolescents is alarmingly high, but no previous study has prospectively examined the sport- and academic-factors associated with smoking and smoking initiation. This study aimed to prospectively examine the associations between scholastic (educational) achievement and sport factors and smoking in 16- to 18-year-old adolescents. This twoyear prospective cohort study included 644 adolescents who were 16 years of age at baseline (46% females). Baseline testing was implemented at the beginning of the 3rd year of high school (September 2014) when participants were 16 years old. Follow-up testing was completed at the end of the fourth year of high school, which occurred 20 months later. The evaluated predictor variables were educational-achievement- and sport-related-factors. The outcome variables were (i) smoking at baseline; (ii) smoking at follow-up; and (iii) smoking initiation over the course of the study. We assessed the associations between predictors and outcomes using logistic regression models adjusted for age, gender, socioeconomic status, and conflict with parents. The educational variables were consistently associated with smoking, with lower grade-point-average (Baseline: odd ratio (OR): 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.61\u20132.55; Follow-up: 1.59, 1.31\u20131.94), more frequent absence from school (Baseline: OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.19\u20131.69; Follow-up: 1.30, 1.08\u20131.58), and lower behavioral grades (Baseline: OR: 1.80, 95% CI: 1.10\u20132.89; Follow-up: 1.57, 1.03\u20132.41) in children who smoke. Adolescents who reported quitting sports were at greater odds of being smokers (Baseline: 2.07, 1.31\u20133.32; Followup: 1.66, 1.09\u20132.56). Sport competitive achievement at baseline was protective against smoking initiation during following two-year period (0.45, 0.21\u20130.91). While the influence of the educational variables on smoking initiation has been found to be established earlier; sport achievement was identified as a significant protective factor against initiating smoking in older adolescents. Results should be used in development of an anti-smoking preventive campaign in older adolescents

Enhancement of electron magnetic susceptibility due to many-body interactions in monolayer MoSe2_2

Employing the original, all-optical method, we quantify the magnetic susceptibility of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) confined in the MoSe$_2$ monolayer in the range of low and moderate carrier densities. The impact of electron-electron interactions on the 2DEG magnetic susceptibility is found to be particularly strong in the limit of, studied in detail, low carrier densities. Following the existing models, we derive $g_0 = 2.5 \pm 0.4$ for the bare (single particle) g-factor of the ground state electronic band in the MoSe$_2$ monolayer. The derived value of this parameter is discussed in the context of estimations from other experimental approaches. Surprisingly, the conclusions drawn differ from theoretical ab-initio studies

Proposal of a Nutritional Quality Index (NQI) to Evaluate the Nutritional Supplementation of Sportspeople

Background: Numerous supplements are used by sportspeople. They are not always appropriate for the individual or the sports activity and may do more harm than good. Vitamin and mineral supplements are unnecessary if the energy intake is sufficient to maintain body weight and derives from a diet with an adequate variety of foods. The study objectives were to evaluate the main nutrients used as supplements in sports and to propose a nutritional quality index (NQI) that enables sportspeople to optimize their use of supplements and detect and remedy possible nutritional deficits. Material and Methods: A nutritional study was performed in 485 sportspeople recruited from Centros Andaluces de Medicina del Deporte, (CAMD). All completed socio-demographic, food frequency, and lifestyle questionnaires. The nutritional quality of their diet and need for supplementation were evaluated by scoring their dietary intake with and without supplementation, yielding two NQI scores (scales of 0-21 points) for each participant. Results: A superior mean NQI score was obtained when the supplements taken by participants were not included (16. 28 (SD of 3.52)) than when they were included (15.47 (SD: 3.08)), attributable to an excessive intake of some nutrients through supplementation. Conclusions: These results indicate that sportspeople with a varied and balanced diet do not need supplements, which appear to offer no performance benefits and may pose a health risk.The authors are grateful to the Junta de Andalucía, Spain (Research Group AGR-255“Nutrition. Diet and Risk Assessment”), a collaboration agreement with the Andalusian Centres of Sports Medicine (Junta de Andalucía) and the FPU program of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. Study participants were recruited through the project “Nutritional and diet assessment methodologies applied to the Andalusian sportsperson in Andalusian Sports centres”, Research project FMD2010SC0071 of the Junta de Andalucía