Exploring Dietary Supplementation Practices and Predictors of Dietary Supplement Use Among Varsity Athletes at the University of Guelph

Download or read book Exploring Dietary Supplementation Practices and Predictors of Dietary Supplement Use Among Varsity Athletes at the University of Guelph written by Karol-Ann Roy and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this project was to gain insight into patterns and predictors of dietary supplement use among varsity athletes. An online questionnaire was completed by 302 varsity athletes (30.5% male, 69.5% female; 20.5 ± 1.8 years old) competing in intermittent, power and endurance-based sports at the University of Guelph. Overall, 58.3% of athletes reported having used at least one type of dietary supplement in the past six months. Gender and age had significant associations with prevalence of supplement use, with male athletes and athletes over 20 years old more likely to be supplement users. Protein, vitamins and minerals and carbohydrate were the most commonly used dietary supplements. Individual types of dietary supplements consumed and frequency of supplementation were influenced by gender, age, weekly training hours and type of sport practiced. Reasons for consuming dietary supplements, sources of information as well as predictors of supplement use were also explored. Although most athletes were using reliable sources of information, with health care professionals being the most frequently reported source, 58.6% of athletes still mentioned wanting to become more knowledgeable about dietary supplements, highlighting the need for additional educational resources.