Dietary Patterns of Competitive Swimmers with Moderate-to-Severe Cerebral Palsy: A 3-Year Longitudinal Evaluation

Jacqueline L. Walker (), Jessica R. Cartwright, Iain M. Dutia, Mikaela Wheeler and Sean M. Tweedy
Additional contact information
Jacqueline L. Walker: School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Jessica R. Cartwright: School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Iain M. Dutia: School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Mikaela Wheeler: School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Sean M. Tweedy: School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: Aim: To evaluate the longitudinal dietary patterns of three adolescents with moderate-to-severe cerebral palsy (CP) participating in a performance-focused swimming training intervention. Method: Participants were three previously inactive adolescents with CP (15–16 years, GMFCS IV) who had recently (<6 months) enrolled in a swimming training program. Diet quality from diet histories was calculated at 10-time points over 3.25 years using the Dietary Guidelines Index for Children and Adolescents (DGI-CA) and the Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults (HEIFA-2013). A food group analysis was compared to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommendations. Trends were considered in the context of dietary advice given and the training load. Results: Longitudinal diet quality scores were consistent and ranged from 40 to 76 (DGI-CA) and 33 to 79 (HEIFA-2013). Food group intake remained stable; participants rarely met the recommendations for fruit, vegetables, dairy, grain, and meat but frequently achieved discretionary serves. Conclusions: Participants with moderate-to-severe CP who were enrolled in a performance-focused swimming training intervention and were monitored frequently maintained diet quality throughout a period where it conventionally declined. Scores were higher than the general population and were maintained irrespective of the training load. Participants frequently met food group recommendations for discretionary foods and were comparable to the general population for other food groups.

Keywords: dietary patterns; performance-focused; swimming training intervention; cerebral palsy; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/7/5331/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/7/5331/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:7:p:5331-:d:1111628

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().