Abstract

VERNETTA SANTANA, Mercedes; PELAEZ, Eva M.; ARIZA, Leopoldo  and  LOPEZ BEDOYA, Jesús. Mediterranean diet, body esteem and anthropometric parameters in acrobatic teenage gymnasts. Rev. Mex. de trastor. aliment [online]. 2019, vol.10, n.2, pp.148-161.  Epub Mar 14, 2022. ISSN 2007-1523.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fesi.20071523e.2019.2.543.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the adherence to Mediterranean diet (AMD) and body esteem (BE) in acrobatic gymnasts and their relationships with anthropometric parameters. Participated 48 teenage gymnasts (32 girls and 16 boys) of 12-21old-years. The AMD was analyzed through Quality Test of Diet Mediterranean in Childhood and Adolescence (KIDMED test) and the Body Esteem Scale for Children (BES-C). The waist circumference was measured, as well as the height and weight, calculating BMI and waist-height ratio (WHR). The 69% of sample showed an optimal AMD with a BMI of 18.6 kg/ m2, waist circumference of 62.1 cm and WHR of 0.4 cm without sex differences. The AMD is not associated with BE and anthropometric parameters. In general, boys and girls showed good BE. Not significant relationships were found between values of KIDMED test, anthropometric variables and BE. In general, the eating habits of the gymnast were healthy, presenting to the most optimal AMD, normal values of BMI and a good perception of their body imagen. However, although these results are encouraging, it was evident that almost a third of the participants would need to improve their diet, which points to the need to strengthen nutritional education strategies in the sport field.

Keywords : Body image; Eating habits; Body composition; Acrobatic gymnastic; Adolescents.

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