The Study on Collegiate Athletes' Beverage Drinking Pattern and Knowledge about Hydration and Fluid Replacement

Lee, Hyun Sook

Abstract

The survey was conducted to investigate athletes' beverage drinking pattern and their knowledge concerning hydration and fluid replacement. The subjects were 371 collegiate athletes (235 males and 136 females) in Seoul and Daejun area. The mean age of the athletes was 20.44 y. The prevalence of sports drink use among subjects at ordinary time, after training, and after competition were 9.0%, 17.1%, and 57.3% respectively. Primary source of sports drink information were advertisement (57.3%), friends or colleagues (14.9%), and coaches (7.0%). The purchase of sports drink was done by athletes themselves (76.0%) and coaches (22.6%). The most influential factor in choice of sports drink was taste (61.5%), brand name (15.1%), composition (12.4%), and advertisement (6.7%). However, only 9.5% of the subjects answered they know well about the sports drink they are drinking. To the 15 questions to survey the nutritional knowledge about fluid and intake of sports drink, subjects responded correctly to 58.47%. Their sex or experiences of nutrition education didn't affect to their knowledge. As the result, the prevalence of collegiate athletes' sports drink use was high but their knowledge about it was not sufficient. These results suggest that an effective and practical nutrition education for adequate hydration and choice of sports drink for atheletes should be considered.