PROJEKT
MITTEPROFESSIONAALSETE MEESMARATOONARITE (≥ 45 A) TOITUMISTAVAD Eating habits of non-professional male marathoners (≥45 yr) Kelly Leppik, Ülle Parm, Heilis Veesaar, Anna-Liisa Tamm Abstract Food and fluid consumption (daily, pre-marathon and during the marathon) plays a role in sports performance and in maintaining a good health. There is no specific overview of eating habits, fluid, supplement and vitamin consumption of non-professional male marathoners in Estonia. It is possible that marathoners participate in the competition without a proper preparation, while risking their own health. The aim of this study was to assess non-professional male marathoners’ (≥45yr) eating habits and fluid consumption before and during the marathon. The sample consisted of all non-professional male marathoners (≥45 yr) who had registered to the Tartu Marathon Cube. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis, the t-test, the Mann-Whitney or the χ2 test for comparing between the groups. All of the marathoners were omnivores and their daily quantity of meals corresponded to the recommendations. 76.4% of the marathoners monitored the regularity of their daily eating and 72.8% while preparing for the marathon. 13.9% and 10.3% monitored their calorie intake daily and while preparing for the marathon, respectively. 73.5% visited the food stops in median of 4.8 ±2.5 times per marathon. In addition, gels, energy bars, and glucose tablets were brought along with themselves 36%, 16.2% and 3.7%, respectively. Marathoners were in danger of pre-marathon fluid over-consumption (1.9 ±0.8 l), but their fluid consumption during the marathon was optimal (534 ±0.4 ml/h). Magnesium was the most popular supplement daily (32.4%), and during the marathon (23.5%), but C and D vitamins were also quite popular. For conclusion and further suggestions individual dietary analysis is needed.
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