Food habits of competitive cadets of the practical shooting mode during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Practical shooting is a modality that assists the military in professional practice and can be influenced by the diet, anthropometric profile and physical fitness of the practitioners. The present study aimed to investigate anthropometric, socioeconomic and eating habits of male cadets competing in the practical shooting modality and servants of the Military Police of the Belo Horizonte city, Minas Gerais, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Fifteen cadets participated in the study, with an average age of 31.5± 3.1 years. Participants answered an online questionnaire with information about socio-economic aspects, anthropometric measures and eating habits. The Mini-ECCA questionnaire (Mini Encuesta de Calidad de Consumo Alimentario) was used to assess the quality of the diet. There was no significant variation in weight (p=0.72) and BMI (p=0.26) during the pandemic. During the pandemic, 46.6%, 26.6% and 13.3% of the cadets increased their consumption of fast foods, sweets and fried foods, respectively. Most cadets did not consume recommended amounts of vegetables, fish, fruits and legumes. The consumption of sugary drinks and processed foods above the recommended was reported by 73.3% and 40% of the cadets. However, most consumed the recommended for water intake, consumed little saturated fat, and ate predominantly at home. According to Mini-ECCA, most cadets had the quality of their diet classified as very low/low (60%). It is concluded that the majority of the participants had reduced quality of the diet during the pandemic, presenting low quality, thus being able to bring losses both to the professional practice and to the performance in the practical shooting modality.