Examining the Relationship Between Healthy Nutrition and Performance Enhancing Attitudes of Team and Individual Athletes
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
International Journal of Applied Exercise Physiology 2322-3537 www.ijaep.com Vol.10 No.2 Examining the Relationship between Healthy Nutrition and Performance Enhancing Attitudes of Team and Individual Athletes Deniz Öztürk1 1. PhD, Health Services Vocational School, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey. ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT Original Research Paper The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between healthy Doi: nutrition habits and performance enhancing attitudes of team and Received December. 2020 individual athletes. Three hundred-seventy active healthy athletes (169 Accepted February. 2021 female, 201 male) aged 18 and over, engaged in team and individuals sports Keywords: participated in this study voluntarily. The Healthy Nutrition Attitude Scale, Healthy Nutrition Attitude, developed by Demir and Cicioglu (2019), was used to determine athletes' Performance Enhancement Attitude, Athletes. attitudes related to health nutrition. The attitude levels of the athletes regarding performance enhancement were determined with the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale, which was developed by Petroczi and Aidman (2009), and adapted to Turkish language by Yıldız and Toros (2018). The level of positive nutrition, the level of attitude towards malnutrition, and the general attitude level towards healthy nutrition (HNA: total score) of men athletes were high statistically significantly higher than women athletes (p<0.05). The information on nutrition level, emotion for nutrition level, positive nutrition level, malnutrition level, healthy nutrition attitude level (HNA: total score), and performance enhancement attitude level were determined to be statistically significantly superior than non-national athletes (p<0.05). It was determined that athletes whose best rating was the International Championship had significantly better in positive nutrition, malnutrition, and healthy nutrition attitude level (HNA: total score) than athletes whose best rating was the Turkey Championship (p<0.05). It was observed that the sub-dimension scores of athletes' healthy nutrition attitudes had a descriptive effect on the performance enhancement attitude level (%1.9, r2= .019)), but this effect was not statistically significant (p> 0.05). There is a need for more studies and training sessions for athletes on sports nutrition and problems related to the use of performance enhancing supplements, and also it is very important that the psychological processes and emotional states of the athletes are managed well by both themselves and their trainers, especially before the competition periods. 1. Introduction Healthy nutrition is the sufficient amount of all nutrients needed by considering the age, gender and physiological condition of the individual. Nutrition is a compulsory need to maintain vitality. It is defined as sufficient and balanced consumption of nutrients for processes such as growth, development and reproduction in humans. Incomplete or 65 International Journal of Applied Exercise Physiology www.ijaep.com VOL.10 (2) unbalanced use of these nutrients can cause many health problems. However, it is accepted that nutrition is a sociological and psychological phenomenon as well as physiological (1,2). Healthy and proper nutrition has a direct effect on getting the best efficiency from food and filling energy stores (3). A healthy diet is defined as a diet low in fat, high in fiber, and rich in fruit and vegetable consumption (4). Providing adequate nutrition and hydration can reduce fatigue (6). In addition, nutrition directly increases the health status of athletes (7,8). Normal nutrition may sometimes be insufficient to meet the needs of athletes; Therefore, nutritional supplements may be needed. Dietary supplement is considered as an additional supplement to regular nutrition (9). It is a known fact that athlete nutrition is indispensable for both training and competitions. One of the important supplements for elite level athletes in the physical dimension is nutrition (10). The meaning of sports nutrition for today's people is related to sports nutrition and supplementary foods consumed in cardiac loading during competition. However, the determinant of sportive performance is healthy foods taken before exercise and consumed during exercise (11). In the World, amateur or professional athletes turn to performance-enhancing nutritional products in order to rapidly supplement the energy they lose. The perceptions and attitudes towards these products have a significant effect on the use of the product (11). Attitude is defined as a tendency that is attributed to an individual, and forms his/her thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to a psychological concept (12). Perception, attitude, mood and environment form the orientation of the world. The level of knowledge on the subject is the intertwining of emotional approach and attitudes. According to this; attitude includes an individual's attitude, knowledge (cognitive) towards a phenomenon, case or situation, positive-negative feelings (emotional) about that situation, and various statements and actions (behavioral) about the subject. The products that increase performance and improve physical appearance are substances that provide weight loss by increasing muscle growth, fat burning, and also increase endurance (9,13). Performance enhancing food supplements consist of products containing nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs or herbal dietary ingredients (14). Physiologically, the energy spent with a healthy diet is replaced. (15). In a one study, it was stated that the age, training type, body composition and energy consumption of the athlete can be effective in directing the performance-enhancing foods (16). Athletes are now models and are visible in all realms. Healthy attitudes and approaches to ones sports has been studied using self-determination theory’s motivation orientations. Intrinsic motivation has shown strong correlations to athletic enjoyment, performance improvement and healthier lifestyles while extrinsic orientations has previously shown unhealthier sporting behaviors such as doping use. Experienced athletes with healthy eating habits and consciousness are unlikely to use various dietary supplements to improve performance. In literature. there are very few studies examining the relationship between healthy nutrition habits and performance enhancing attitudes of team and individual athletes. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between healthy nutrition habits and performance enhancing attitudes of team and individual athletes 2. Method 2.1. Participants Three hundred-seventy active healthy athletes aged 18 and over, engaged in team and individuals sports participated in this study voluntarily. 66 International Journal of Applied Exercise Physiology www.ijaep.com VOL.10 (2) 2.2. Collection of Data The scales were created in the Google drive environment. The form prepared consisted of detailed information about the content, purpose and methodological model of the study, demographic information and questions about the scales. The scales were sent to the determined athletes living in different cities of Turkey via social media platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapps and E-mail. Athletes were asked to fill the scales very carefully, and also extra explanation was made via message or phone about scale items that athletes did not understand. Whether the scales were filled or not was followed through google drive. A reminder message was sent to the athletes who did not complete the scales. 2.3. Data Collection Tools Healthy Nutrition Attitude Scale (HNAS): The Healthy Nutrition Attitude Scale, developed by Demir and Cicioglu (13), was used to determine athletes' attitudes related to health nutrition. The scale consists of 4 sub-dimensions and 21 questions. These sub-dimensions were defined to as Information on Nutrition, Emotion for Nutrition, Positive Nutrition, and Malnutrition. The scale was prepared in a 5-point Likert type. The ratings of the positive items in the scale are as follows: "I definitely disagree", "I disagree", "I am indecisive", "I agree", "I strongly agree". Positive attitude items; 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were scored, while negative attitude items were scored as 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. The lowest score that can be obtained from the scale is 21, and the highest score is 105. The rating of the scale is as follows; 21 points “too low”, 23- 42 points “low”, 43-63 points “medium”, 64-84 points “high” and 85-110 points “ideal level“. The ideal level indicates that the athlete has a desired level of attitude towards healthy nutrition. In this study, the Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient for the the Information on Nutrition, Emotion towards nutrition, Positive Nutrition, Malnutrition sub-dimension of the Healthy Nutrition Attitude Scale was found to be.768, .712, .811, and.755, respectively. Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS): The attitude levels of the athletes regarding performance enhancement were determined with the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale, which was developed by Petroczi and Aidman (17), and adapted to Turkish language by Yıldız and Toros (18). The scale comprises of one sub-dimension, and includes 17 items. The scale is based on the 6-point Likert-type evaluation step, which is expressed as "I strongly disagree (1)”, “disagree (2)”, “partially disagree (3)”, “partially agree (4)”, “agree (5)”, “strongly agree (6)”. The score range of the scale is between 17 and 102, and high score stated