Qualitat de la dieta en jugadors de bàsquet amateurs a la ciutat de Barcelona

Abstract

The eating habits of a population are a determinant of health status and poor dietary habits are related to many diseases of high prevalence and mortality. The eating habits of young people must be analyzed in the context in which they happen, and come marked by specific forms of production and distribution of food, while some also represent a culture and values of the society where they live. The role of human nutrition in the health of populations is currently one of the major areas of research and health policy in developed countries. The quality of the diet is determined by behaviours or eating habits pertaining to each person and have their origin in both social and family contexts. Wrong eating habits, together with a lack of physical activity, are responsible for most of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, anaemia, etc... Learning about eating habits and diet quality is essential to plan policies for health promotion and prevention of many diseases. No diet is, in itself, good, but if there is a dietary model or pattern which has showed to provide benefits and mainly plays a protective or preventive role on many diseases; this is the Mediterranean diet, based on a range policies, which are all based on healthcare. The overall objective of this thesis is to assess the quality of the diet; eating habits and body composition of a group of amateur basketball players aged 18-29 years, in the city of Barcelona. The prevalence of overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2 ) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2 ) in amateur basketball players in the city of Barcelona is 16.9% and 1.3% respectively, while 7.3% and 6.6% who were normal weight that showed nor excess fat neither cardiovascular risk. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was 53.4% (53.9% in men and 55.8% in women). Around 80% of this population met recommendations for salt, sweets and alcohol intake and there were only differences between genders regarding fibre, folate and total carbohydrates, with better compliance in men than in women. 61.4% of population met the recommendations for dairy consumption, 37.9% for legumes, 31.4% for vegetables, 22.85% for fish, low fat meats and eggs, 19.3% for nuts, 12.9% for olive oil, and 8.6% for fruits. No player showed deficiency (<2/3 RDAs) related to intake of selenium and zinc, 10.7% had deficiency of vitamin C, 82.5% of vitamin E, and 12.1% and 1.4% of male and female players, respectively, showed deficiency of vitamin A. The antioxidant capacity of the diet, according to the Dietary Antioxidant Quality score (DAQs) was 81.8% of the diet in men and 87.8% in women. Around fifty seven per cent of the population was properly hydrated before, 23.9% during, and 67.2% after training, with no differences between men and women. The most consumed drink was water, before (64.5%), during (94.0%), and after (81.4%) training, followed by fruit juice before training (21.3%) and soft drinks after training (18%). These data conclude the need to promote good eating habits in a population. If these bad habits will be not rectified, there will be consequences on the population health in the future.