Dietary Behaviors and Nutritional Assessment of Young Male Isfahani Wrestlers

Background: young athletes have more nutritional needs than otheradolescents because of physical activity and physical development.optimal athletic performance results from a combination of factorsincluding training, body composition, and nutrition. despite theincreased interest in nutrition and use of dietary supplements toenhance performance, some athletes might be consuming diets that areless than optimal. in wrestling it is common practice to optimize one’sbody composition and body weight prior to a competition season. thisoften includes a change in dietary intake or habits.methods: twenty?eight wrestlers, between the ages of 17 and 25 years,participated in this study. dietary intakes of micro and macro nutrientswere collected by face?to?face interview, structured food frequencyquestionnaire (ffq). dietary intake of energy, carbohydrates, fats andproteins and micronutrients was evaluated.results: mean intakes of energy, carbohydrates, proteins and fat werehigher than recommended dietary allowances (rda). the mean intakesof all vitamins and minerals were higher than the rdas in these wrestlers,except for vitamin d, biotin, zinc, iodine, chrome and molybdenum.conclusions: on the basis of our results, nutritional education shouldbe given to these subjects and their families for promoting healthy eatinghabits.