Background: Recreational sports for fitness have grown in popularity in South Africa. Different fitness programs, such as aerobic exercise, dance, and bodybuilding, exist in various districts of the Limpopo Province, including the Vhembe District. However, the participants’ overall dietary intake and practices remain unknown.
Aim: The study assessed the overall dietary consumption and timing of intake before, during, and after training among recreational athletes in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was carried out to investigate the dietary practices of 112 recreational sports participants in the Vhembe District. All the Athletes were purposely sampled due to the small number of participants registered at gymnasiums. All food consumed the day before and the timing of intake (before, during, and after physical activity) were recorded using multiple 24 h recall questionnaires on different days. During the recall interview, marked household utensils were used to estimate portion sizes. To validate the 24 h recollections, the Food Frequency Questionnaire was used. Nutrient intake was calculated and analysed using the Food Finder (an electronic program) and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (v.28), and participant dietary practices were descriptively reported.
Results: Most participants were males (58%), aged 34.2 ± 9.0 years and engaged in aerobic dance and bodybuilding programs. Participants trained three or more days per week for at least two hours. Aerobic dancers consumed energy (16.6 ± 8.0 kcal/kg/day), CHO (3.4 ± 1.5 g/kg/day), protein (0.6 ± 0.2 g/kg/day), and fat (0.4 ± 0.3 g/kg/day) at suboptimal levels. Similarly, bodybuilders consumed energy (55.6 ± 1.0 kcal/kg/day), CHO (1.5 ± 0.2 g/kg/day), and protein (0.4 ± 0.0 g/kg/day) at suboptimal levels, while fat intake (0.6 ± 0.3 g/kg/day) was optimal. Water was the most consumed beverage before, during, and after physical activity; however, no other nutrient-dense meals or beverages were consumed.
Conclusions: The dietary Practices of recreational participants deviated from sports nutrition recommendations.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, R.R.; methodology, R.R., S.H.M. and S.M.; software, R.R.; validation, S.H.M. and S.M.; formal analysis, R.R.; investigation, R.R.; resources, R.R.; data curation, R.R., S.H.M. and S.M.; writing—original draft preparation, R.R.; writing—review and editing, R.R., S.H.M. and S.M.; visualization, R.R.; supervision, S.H.M. and S.M.; project administration, R.R., S.H.M. and S.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board of University of Limpopo (TREC/346/2022: PG).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
Data supporting reported results can be found from researchers upon request.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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