Abstract

The current study was designed to examine the nutritional supplement prevalence of elite water sports athletes who compete in national and international levels in European countries and to determine the type of supplement use and the relationship between specific performance-related reasons for supplement use. Two hundred water sports athletes (mean age=24.7±4.32 years) volunteered to participate in this study. Athletes from six different water sports branches completed a questionnaire including questions about the use of nutritional supplements. The prevalence of supplement use was 72% and the average supplements consumed in a day was nearly two (mean 2.6±1.95 for female and mean2.3±1.28 for male) for both gender. The prevalence of nutritional supplement use according to gender and water sports branches was not significantly different. The common reasons justifying their use were to “provide energy”, “stay healthy” or “maintain strength”. The lack of knowledge about the reasons for supplement use regarding type of protein, multivitamin, multimineral, vitamin C and ginseng was notable. Dietary supplement use is widespread among all water sports branches in Europeans’ athletes. Many athletes do not have accurate information about these products. Hence, there is an urgent need to provide accurate information which will help athletes make informed choices about the use of supplements. 

Key words: Supplementation, athletes, prevalence, sport branches.

Abbreviation

BMI, Body mass index; BCAA, branched chain amino acids;ACSM, American college of sports medicine.