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Journal of Nutrition and Human Health | Volume 2
&
October 29-30, 2018 | London, UK
Joint Event
Nutrition and Fitness
16
th
International Conference on
3
rd
World Congress on
Card i o l ogy
Physical health in females competing in aesthetic fitness sports; Symptoms of Relative EnergyDeficiency
in sport (RED-s)
Therese Fostervold Mathisen
Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norway
Relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-s) involves insufficient
energy intake by athletes compared to their total energy
needs, potentially impairing health and performance. Athletes
competing inweight-sensitive or aesthetic sports are specifically
prone to this syndrome, and cardiorespiratory exercise, meal
skipping, and low-kcal diets are common methods used for
weight regulation. On the contrary, aesthetic fitness athletes are
known for practicing resistance exercise, and regular, protein
dense meals while dieting before competitions. However, the
health effects from their specific practice is not known. In this
study, we aimed at evaluating symptoms of RED-s in dieting,
competitive fitness athletes. A cohort of 31 female fitness
athletes (FA) and 28 female control persons (CP) aged 18-40
years were evaluated by indirect calorimetry, resting heart rate,
DXA, and a 4-day diet registration before competition diet was
initiated (pre), 2 weeks prior to fitness competition (mid), and
+1month after competition (post). Mean (SE) resting metabolic
rate (kcal) changed from pre to mid by -207.57 (68.9) in FA
and -5.26 (62.3) in CP, with 60% of FA and 28% of CP being
hypo-metabolic at mid. Concurrently, resting heart rate (BPM)
changed by -10.34 (1.6) in FA and -2.51 (1.6) in CP (P<0.001
between groups). Body weight (kg) changed by -4.44 (0.6) in FA
and 0.11 (0.6) in CP, with change in body fat percent -7.3 (0.6) in
FA and 0.9 (0.6) in CP (P<0.001 between groups). Energy intake
per kg lean body mass (kcal/LBM) at pre and mid was lower in
FA compared to CP (P<0.001), with 39% of FA defined with low
energy availability at mid. Most variables returned to normal at
post. Current results indicate that symptoms of RED-s might be
a problem in fitness athletes and further long-term follow up
studies are warranted to learn more about possible long-term
consequences for health.
e:
theresfm@nih.no