Nutritional habits of 11–12-year-old swimmers against non-athlete peers – a pilot study

Introduction. Quality and quantity of food, consumed by a child have a great influence on his biological development. Dietary habits of children often do not meet criteria suggested by health institutions and schools. Nutrition of a child, involved in competitive sport should be rationally planned and obeyed. Aim. Comparison of dietary habits among two groups children: practicing swimming and non-athletes. Materials and method. Research group consisted of 11–12-year-old children attending the same public primary school. Forty six students engaged in swimming training and forty two non-athletes were examined. The following anthropometrics variables had been measured: body height, body mass, percent body fat and body mass index. Dietary habits of the children were assessed by the survey, created on the basis of a tools available in literature. Results. Children of both groups differed essentially in terms of percent body fat. Anyway, their body proportions meet the referred standards. A few differences were discovered in nutritional patterns among swimmers and non-athletes. Young swimmers more often consumed dinners at school. Moreover, swimming pupils ate dairy products more often than their peers, but ate fish less often. Non-athletes declared consumption of sweets more often when compared to the swimmers. Conclusions. Results of this study revealed insufficient number of consumed meal portions in both groups. There is a need of permanent nutritional education, provided by parents, teachers at school and sports coaches.