1. Eating attitudes and behaviours in elite Canadian athletes with a spinal cord injury.
- Author
-
Krempien JL and Barr SI
- Subjects
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Attitude to Health, Body Composition, Canada, Case-Control Studies, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet Records, Disabled Persons, Eating physiology, Energy Metabolism physiology, Female, Food Preferences physiology, Humans, Hunger, Male, Psychometrics, Reference Values, Spinal Cord Injuries psychology, Athletes psychology, Eating psychology, Energy Intake, Food Preferences psychology, Spinal Cord Injuries metabolism
- Abstract
Athletes with a spinal cord injury (SCI) appear to have relatively modest energy requirements despite demanding training regimes. Virtually nothing is known about the factors which influence the energy intake of those with a SCI including food related attitudes and behaviours. Using a cross-sectional observational design, three aspects of eating attitudes were measured using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) along with six days of self-reported dietary intake and anthropometrics. Between March 2007 and May 2009, a total of 32 Canadian athletes with a SCI (n=24 men, n=8 women) completed the study. The TFEQ scales showed a cognitive dietary restraint score of 10.8±4.7, disinhibition score of 2.8±1.8 and hunger score of 3.1±2.2. When the group was split into high and low restraint groups using a median of 11.5, no differences were detected in any of the absolute parameters of reported dietary intake although the higher restraint group had protein intakes account for a greater proportion of total energy. Those with higher restraint scores also had a relatively higher disinhibition score. While the cognitive dietary restraint scores for the women were similar to other able-bodied populations, the scores for men were higher than population norms from other studies. The scores for disinhibition and hunger were lower than reported ranges from able-bodied subjects. These athletes may be actively monitoring or limiting dietary intake to avoid the high prevalence of obesity associated with a SCI or perhaps to maintain an ideal body composition for their sport performance., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2012
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