Food and beverage intake habits in handball players: relationship with gender and competitive level

Handball is a complex sport, played by both men and women. In order to cover the nutritional requirements, correct dietary-nutritional planning must be carried out. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe and evaluate the food, water and alcohol intake of handball players according to gender and competitive level. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 348 handball players (22.49 ± 4.11 years, 158 of whom were women and 190 were men, all of them of legal age) from Spanish leagues who completed a self-administered, semi-quantitative food and beverage intake questionnaire. It was observed that men ate white meat, red meat, soft drinks and prepared/frozen foods more frequently (p=<0.001-0.029), and women ate rice more frequently (p=0.021). In terms of competitive level, those in the honour division ate fruit and vegetables more frequently and drank soft drinks less frequently (p=0.001-0.014). The most frequent reasons for following a diet were performance(15.7%) and health(22.9%). Men drank water more frequently than women during the day and during training(p=<0.001-0.022). On the other hand, water intake habits during training increased as the competitive level increased(p=0.048). Most players drank alcohol at least once or between once and twice a week. In conclusion, differences in food and water intake habits were observed according to gender and competitive level. These data favour the advancement of the understanding of the impact that nutrition has on each of the players. Consequently, with this knowledge, dietary recommendations and guidelines in handball can be improved.