Subjective Sleep Quality Is Associated with Post-Exercise Appetite Loss in Female University Athletes: An Exploratory...

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Nutrition Science
• Sleep Science

Background:

• Post-exercise appetite loss is a common issue for athletes, potentially hindering recovery nutrition.
• Significant individual differences in appetite response after exercise are not well understood.
• Understanding these variations is crucial for optimizing athletic performance and health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore lifestyle and health factors associated with post-exercise appetite loss in female university athletes.
• To investigate the relationship between subjective sleep quality and appetite loss.
• To identify potential predictors of appetite variability in athletes.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory cross-sectional study involving 35 female university athletes.
• Appetite loss was self-reported as 'often' or 'sometimes/never'.
• Statistical analyses included contingency analysis and exploratory logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Post-exercise appetite loss was reported by 74.3% of participants.
• Poor or fair subjective sleep quality was significantly associated with appetite loss (OR = 11.6).
• This association remained significant after multivariate analysis, independent of other lifestyle factors.

Conclusions:

• Subjective sleep quality is a key factor associated with post-exercise appetite loss in female university athletes.
• Lifestyle factors, particularly sleep, may play a larger role than exercise type in appetite regulation.
• Monitoring sleep quality can help identify athletes at risk for inadequate recovery nutrition.