Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Smith, JohnEric W.

Committee Member

Lamberth, John

Committee Member

Wax, Benjamin Jr

Committee Member

Fountain, Brent

Date of Degree

12-10-2021

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Exercise Science

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Kinesiology

Abstract

Background: Macronutrients play a critical role within collegiate athletes’ performance and health, with carbohydrates providing most of the energy needs for most athletes. There is little research examining the macronutrient intake of healthy collegiate female athletes across sports. The aim of the present study was to compare macronutrient intakes of female collegiate athletes within different sports and compare their intakes to recommendations. Methods: An observational study was conducted to determine whether a sample of female collegiate athletes (n=26) consumed the IOC nutritional recommendations. Sports included within the study were soccer, basketball, volleyball, and cross-country. Athletes were asked to complete a 6-day food log over a 2-week span, which included 2 weekend days during their in-season training phase. The body composition of athletes was also recorded. Macronutrient and overall caloric intakes were then compared to the IOC recommendations. Results: Overall caloric and carbohydrate intake were significantly lower than the IOC recommendations. Carbohydrate intake was notably low within soccer players (2.92 ± 1.01 g/kg/day) and basketball players (1.61 ± 0.41 g/kg/day). Fat intakes were recorded significantly higher than the IOC recommendations of 15-20%. Athletes demonstrated a significantly higher protein intake than the IOC recommendations when measured in g (100.56 ± 24.01) and g/kg (1.65 ± 0.54). Conclusion: This study found that female soccer, basketball, and volleyball players do not consume adequate macronutrient intakes compared to the IOC recommendations. The current study is one of the first to demonstrate a cohort of female cross-country runners consuming the daily recommendations of both overall caloric intake and carbohydrate intakes during their in-season phase of training.

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