Dietary nutrient intake of Korean adolescent distance runners

This study examined the dietary nutrient intake of Korean adolescent distance runners and analyzed the difference between weekdays and weekends. The participants were 40 male middle- and long-distance runners aged 13 to 18 years, 36 of whom were analyzed. The 3-day diet records including 2 weekdays and 1 weekend day, were investigated according to the food record method and analyzed using the computer-aided nutritional analysis program. A paired t-test was used to compare the energy and nutrient intakes of the weekdays and weekends, and the chi-square test was used to compare the distribution of the nutrient intake below the estimated average requirement. The results showed that the energy intake per day was quite low at 2,051.0±304.3 kcal, with a body mass index percentile of 16.8±9.8. The nutrients that showed remarkably lower levels than the dietary reference intakes for Koreans were vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin B₂, and calcium, among which calcium was the highest at 86.1% in the proportion of those who consumed less than the estimated average requirement. The intakes of vitamin C and calcium, in particular, showed a significant decrease during the weekends. Therefore, to improve the dietary nutrient intake of adolescent male runners, appropriate management of the weekend diet as well as school meals should be considered.