Exploring the link among eating behaviour, diet quality, and relative energy deficiency in sports risk in elite Canadian volleyball male athletes

Erik Sesbreno; Louise Capling; Margo Mountjoy; Anne-Sophie Brazeau

doi:10.1017/jns.2025.10046

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Exploring the link among eating behaviour, diet quality, and relative energy deficiency in sports risk in elite Canadian volleyball male athletes

Journal article

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Exploring the link among eating behaviour, diet quality, and relative energy deficiency in sports risk in elite Canadian volleyball male athletes

Erik Sesbreno, Louise Capling, Margo Mountjoy and Anne-Sophie Brazeau

Journal of Nutritional Science, Vol.14, pp.1-8

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2025.10046

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Abstract

athlete diet index

eating behaviour

elite athletes

low energy availability

relative energey deficiency in sports

Male volleyball athletes may be at risk of inadequate energy and carbohydrate intake. This may increase their risk of relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs) and impair a variety of physiological and psychological systems involved with performance and health. This study explored the eating behaviours and diet quality of international elite volleyball male athletes and their association on hormones associated with acute energy deficit and primary serum REDs indicators outlined in the International Olympic Committee REDs Clinical Assessment Tool 2. Methods: Using a retrospective design, 30 male athletes from a national indoor volleyball programme were assessed using DXA bone mineral density, hematological analysis, anthropometry, restrained eating behaviour via the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18 and the Athlete Diet Index (ADI) questionnaire. Results: All participants met or exceeded dietary recommendations for health and sport with ADI mean score of 95.2/125 ± 10.5. Restraint eating was inversely associated with insulin (r = − 0.37; p < 0.05). Both the ADI total and core nutrition sub-scores were inversely associated with free-triiodothyronine (r = − 0.58; p < 0.01) but not with total testosterone, insulin or leptin. Conclusion: Male volleyball athletes at risk of inadequate energy intake may not necessarily demonstrate signs of poor diet quality.

Details

Title: Exploring the link among eating behaviour, diet quality, and relative energy deficiency in sports risk in elite Canadian volleyball male athletes
Authors: Erik Sesbreno (Corresponding Author) - McGill University
Louise Capling (Author) - The University of Sydney
Margo Mountjoy - International Olympic Committee
Anne-Sophie Brazeau - McGill University
Publication details: Journal of Nutritional Science, Vol.14, pp.1-8
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1017/jns.2025.10046
ISSN: 2048-6790
Copyright note: © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Grant note: Innovation for Gold s8 to ES.
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991173845502621
Output Type: Journal article

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