Marginal Micronutrient Intake in High-Performance Male Wheelchair Basketball Players: A Dietary Evaluation and the Effects of Nutritional Advice

• Published in: PloS one 2016-07, Vol.11 (7), p.e0157931-e0157931
• Main Authors: Grams, Lena, Garrido, Guadalupe, Villacieros, Jorge, Ferro, Amelia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adequacy; Adult; Anthropometry; Athletes; Athletes with disabilities; Basketball; Biology and Life Sciences; Calcium; Camps; Cereals; Databases, Factual; Diet; Diet Records; Dietary intake; Dietary minerals; Dietary supplements; Disabled Persons; Energy; Energy Intake; Exercise; Feeding Behavior; Fish; Food; Food and nutrition; Food groups; Fruits; Human performance; Humans; Iodine; Iron; Magnesium; Male; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Micronutrients; Micronutrients - deficiency; Nutrition research; Nutritional Requirements; Nutritional Status; Paralympic Games; Phosphorus; Physical fitness; Physical sciences; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Players; Professional basketball; Selenium; Spain; Spinal cord injuries; Sports injuries; Sports Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Student athletes; Tocopherol; Vitamin D; Vitamin deficiency; Vitamin E; Vitamins; Wheelchairs; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157931

Wheelchair basketball has evolved into a high-performance sport over several years, and small variations in player performance can determine the difference between winning and losing. Therefore, adequate micronutrient intake may influence this difference if performance-promoting macronutrient intake and physical fitness are equal between teams. Seventeen elite male wheelchair basketball players belonging to the Spanish National Team participated in this study. Macro- and micronutrient intake were determined using a food-weighing diary over three consecutive days during three training camps in two consecutive years. Current Dietary Reference Intake levels were used to determine the adequacy of intake of seventeen micronutrients of particular interest for athletes. After categorizing the consumed foods into fourteen food groups according to the National Nutrient Database for Standard References (USDA) these groups were used to identify the best predictors of the adequacy of intake for each micronutrient. Total energy intake correlated positively with the adequacy of all micronutrient intake levels, except for vitamins A and E. Five B vitamins and phosphorus, selenium, and iron showed 100% adequacy. All other micronutrient intake levels were found to be inadequate, e.g., vitamin E (51% adequacy) and calcium (73%). The fruit, fish and cereal food groups were found to be predictors of adequate intake of most micronutrients. Together with energy intake (p = .009, η2 = 0.49), the intake of the fruit (p = .032, η2 = 0.39) and egg (p = .036, Kendall's W = 0.42) food groups increased significantly over time, along with improved iodine (p = .008, W = 0.61) and magnesium (p = .030, W = 0.44) adequacy levels. Because the adequacy of micronutrient intake correlates positively with energy intake (R = 0.64, p < .001), a varied diet that includes cereals, fish and fruits is especially important for players with low levels of energy intake. Supplements may be a possible solution if adequate micronutrient intake cannot be achieved through regular dietary intake alone. However, dietary analyses should be conducted on a regular basis throughout the year to improve the nutritional knowledge of the athletes and assure adequate micronutrient intake.