Prevalence and Determinants of Low Energy Availability Risk in International Female Youth Footballers

Marshall, Zoe and Webb, Richard and Roche, Denise and Alwan, Nura and Runacres, Adam (2023) Prevalence and Determinants of Low Energy Availability Risk in International Female Youth Footballers. Pediatric Exercise Science, 35 (S1). S1-S22. ISSN 0899-8493

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Insufficient energy availability can result in adverse health outcomes and is exacerbated by excessive exercise and/or reduced dietary intake. Previous research has focused on endurance, aesthetic and combat sports, but little evidence exists in team-sport athletes. Moreover, the majority of the literature involves adults and has little applicability to adolescent athletes. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence of LEA in international female youth footballers and compare determinants in those at high risk versus those at low risk.

METHODS: After parental consent, 22 international female footballers (16.7±1.3 years; 164.7±7.8 cm; 61.8±7.1 kg) completed an online questionnaire including self-reported anthropometric measures, training volume and history, LEA in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q), and physical activity (PA) and contextual body image surveys. Participants were classified as high LEA risk (LEAF-Q score ≥8) or low LEA risk (LEAF-Q score <8). Differences in determinants by LEA risk were established using t-tests in SPSS.

RESULTS: Ten athletes of the 22 surveyed (45%) displayed high risk of LEA and 7 (27%) experienced secondary amenorrhea. However, there were no significant differences between athletes at high and low LEA risk for training load (High LEA risk: 317.7±9.6 hours·year-1 vs Low LEA risk: 368.0±7.4 hours·year-1), amount of moderate-to-vigorous PA. (High LEA risk: 153.9±58.7 minutes·day-1 vs Low LEA risk: 170.5±67.0 minutes·day-1), contextual body image, or any self-reported anthropometrics (all p>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Almost half of the adolescent footballers surveyed were at high risk of LEA and over a quarter displayed disturbances in their menstrual cycle. The risk of LEA was not associated with training volume or history, PA, or contextual body image. Future research is needed to better understand the mechanistic basis and determinants of LEA in youth athletes to enable maximised performance whilst not impacting upon health.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Health and Sport Sciences
Depositing User:	Richard Webb
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2023 16:00
Last Modified:	13 Nov 2023 16:00
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4064

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