Adequacy of usual intake of Japanese college athletes in various sports clubs.

Background: While many studies have been published on nutrient intake assessment for performance improvement and deficiency prevention in single-sport athletes, few studies have addressed nutrient intakes in athletes from a various sports.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether Japanese college athletes meet the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) and sports nutrition recommendations (SNRs).

Methods: Dietary intake was assessed in 1049 Japanese college athletes from a variety of sports using a validated brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire. The prevalence of inadequate intakes was estimated by comparing the DRIs and SNRs.

Results: For protein, riboflavin, niacin, vitamins B-6, vitamins B-12, folate, magnesium, zinc, and copper, <10% of females and males consumed diets that fell below the estimated average requirement (EAR) in the DRIs. A large proportion of female and male college athletes demonstrated intakes that were below the EAR for vitamin A (7.8% and 19.0%, respectively), thiamin (10.4% and 23.9%, respectively), calcium (20.4% and 29.7%, respectively), and iron (24.2% and 2.5%, respectively). Regarding DG for chronic disease prevention in the DRIs, over half of both female and male athletes exceeded the DG for saturated fat acid and sodium, and fell below the DG for dietary fiber. Few of both female and male had intakes below the SNRs for protein and carbohydrates.

Conclusion: The results of the present study reveal the nutrient intake status of Japanese college athletes by comparing the DRIs and SNRs. Most meet the SNRs for optimal performance, but not the DRIs for health.