Myriam Zaraí García-Dávila; María Grethel Ramírez-Siqueiros; Pascal Bauer; Bojan Makivic; Germán Hernández-Cruz;

Blanca R. Rangel-Colmenero; Teresita Valencia-Falcón; Rodrigo Yáñez-Sepúlveda & Alejandro Martínez-Rodríguez

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare dietary intake to published recommendations and to analyze the potential relationship between body composition and dietary intake in collegiate athletes. Eighteen healthy male middle- and long- distance runners (age 20.11 ± 2.72 y; height, 174.7 ± 6.1 cm; body mass, 64.0 ± 7.7 kg), were recruited from a Mexican university track and field team at the beginning of the general preparation phase for national competitions. Participants completed three 24-hour dietary recalls, which were used to estimate dietary intake. Body composition was measured by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Athletes displayed high body fat values. Protein intake was significantly higher than published recommendations. Iron, zinc, sodium, and vitamin C intake were significantly higher than recommended values, while potassium and calcium intake were below established recommendations. No significant correlations between body composition variables (i.e body fat, lean body mass, bone mineral content) and dietary intake (i.e energy, macronutrients and selected vitamins and minerals) could be found. These findings suggest that coaches and practitioners should pay close attention to dietary intake and body composition of endurance athletes starting general preparation for competition. Future studies on changes of dietary intake and body composition during off-season and competitive phase, which also track physical activity, are warranted.

KEY WORDS: Sports nutrition; College athletes; Fat mass; Muscle mass; Diet.

GARCÍA-DÁVILA, M. Z.; RAMÍREZ-SIQUEIROS, M. G.; BAUER, P.; MAKIVIC, B.; HERNÁNDEZ-CRUZ, G.; RANGEL- COLMENERO, B. R.; VALENCIA-FALCÓN, T.; YÁÑEZ-SEPÚLVEDA, R. & MARTÍNEZ-RODRÍGUEZ, A. Analysis of dietary intake and body composition of collegiate runners. Int. J. Morphol., 41(3):845-850, 2023.