Sports Nutrition
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Diets of Athletes at the Olympic Games
The diet of the athletes at Olympic Games over the last 100 or so years differs greatly from that of the modern day elite athlete (see also the Diets of Current Olympic Athletes). Although the impact of diet on performance is now well known, in years past the research was not available to provide the athletes with the appropriate knowledge.
A study of the diet of athletes in Berlin in 1936 (Schenk, 1936) came up with a total daily allowance of 7300 calories for an
Olympic athlete in training, based on the analysis of the diets of 4700
competitors from forty-two nations.
A survey taken at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 (Jokl, 1964) reported the diets of Olympic athletes to be high energy, high fat, and high protein - they consumed an average daily energy intake of 18,841 kJ, with 40% of energy coming from carbohydrate, 20% from protein, and 40% from fat.
Although there have not been any more recent significant specific studies of diets of Olympic athletes, the diets of elite athletes has been studied. Such data has shown a wide variation in dietary intake. Grandjean (1997) summarized energy intakes of athletes from China, Finland, US and Czechoslovakia, and found a range from 7699 to 24,845 kJ. Group percentages of energy from carbohydrate, protein, and fat ranged from 33 to 57%, 12 to 26%, and 29 to 49%, respectively. Such a wide range is expected due to body size and energy expenditure.
Sport nutrition is still a young discipline, and it is expected the knowledge of how diet affects performance to continue to grow. In years to come, the diet of today's athletes will probably be seen as far from optimal.
References
- Grandjean, Ann C. (1997) Diets of Elite Athletes: Has the Discipline of Sports Nutrition Made an Impact, The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 5, pp. 874S-877S.
- Jokl, E. (1964) Physiology of Exercise. Charles C Thomas, Springfield, IL.
- Louis E. Grivetti and Elizabeth A. Applegate (1997) From Olympia to Atlanta: A Cultural-Historical Perspective on Diet and Athletic Training, The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 5, pp. 860S-868S.
- Schenk, P. 1936. [Care of 4700 contestants from 42 nations in the Olympic village during the eleventh Olympic series of 1936 in Berlin]. Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift. 83: 1535-1539.
- Schenk, P. 1937. Bericht über die Verpflegung der im "Olympischen Dorf" untergebrachten Teilnehmer an den XI. Olympischen Spielen 1936 zu Berlin. Die Ernährung. 2(1): 1-24.
Related Pages
- Nutrition at the Olympics
- about the Olympic Games
