Nutritional practices of aerobic dance athletes in Limpopo province: should we be concerned?

Aerobic dance athletes in Limpopo province follow various nutritional practices, some of which may pose health risks. However, the specifics of these practices have not been clearly documented until now. A descriptive, cross-sectional study recruited 66 part-time aerobic dance athletes from Limpopo. Ethical clearance and written consent were obtained from Turfloop Research Ethics Committee and the athletes. Data was gathered on the characteristics of athletes, including their age, gender, and training profiles. The dietary intake and nutrient timing were collected using multiple (two) 24-hour-recall questionnaires. Energy and macronutrients data were loaded onto the South African Medical Research Council Food Finder and average values were considered for further analysis. All data were then loaded onto SPSS (v.26) for descriptive tests analysis to report the nutritional practices of athletes. A p-value of ≤0.005 was a criterion set for variables to be significant to each other. Female athletes dominated (78.8%), with a majority (63.6%) training 1 – 2 hours daily. Nearly half (46.3%) of the athletes consumed energy (70.1±16.6 kcal/kg) excessively, while fat intake (0.6±0.4 g/kg) was optimal (54.5%). Carbohydrates (2.3±1.3 g/kg) and protein (0.9±0.6 g/kg) were consumed suboptimally by 89.3% and 69.6% of athletes respectively. In general, athletes (63.6%) ate 3 – 4 meals per day. The majority (81.8%) did not consume any food before exercise, while 83.3% hydrated with water during exercise. About 65.1% ate within an hour after exercise. There was no significant correlation between energy and macronutrient intake and sports nutrition practices. Nutritional practices of aerobic dance athletes diverged from established sports nutrition recommendations.