Drinking Regime in Athletes

Abstract

Fluid intake, especially water, is essential for human life and also necessary for physical and mental function. The aim of this study is to find out whether men and women attending sport activities at the Faculty of Sports Studies of Masaryk University Brno keep their drinking regime. The research was carried out by using the questionnaire method. We obtained 186 completed questionnaire forms.Respondents were 108 men and 78 women aged 15-24. First, the anthropometric parameters such as body weight, height and BMI were taken. Based on the BMI value, respondents were divided into the following categories: underweight, ideal weight, overweight, weak obesity, middle obesity, severe obesity. In the next phase, respondents were questioned on the weekly frequency of physical activity performed and the physical activity type. Then, the questions focused on their drinking regime, amount of fluid consumed per day and type of the most frequent beverages. The research reveals that the majority of men and women belong to the ideal weight category. Most male respondents perform physical activity 3 times per week, and female respondents, twice a week. Most favourite physical activities are ball games for men and fitness for women. Most respondents keep their drinking regime. Research shows that most men (40.7%) and women (30.8%) drink between 2-2.5 litres of fluid per day. The most typical drink is water for both men and women. Most respondents, both male (65%) and women (62%), give positive responses to the question whether they believe that their fluid intake is sufficient.