Adherence to Sports Nutrition Guidelines by Tennis Athletes Team Representing the University of Limpopo; Limpopo Province, South Africa

Tennis sport is gaining popularity among students at the University of Limpopo. However, compliance with sports nutrition guidelines by these athletes remains unknown. To evaluate the adherence of tennis athletes to sports nutrition guidelines. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 30 affiliated tennis athletes representing the University team. Ethical approval was obtained from TREC while consent was signed in written form by the athletes. Nutrients intake was collected using a 24-hour-recall questionnaire on three different days, validated with FFQ. Weight and height were collected to calculate nutritional requirements. Dietary data were analysed using SAMRC FoodFinder (v3) and averages were exported into the SPSS (v28). Descriptive statistics were used to establish compliance. Males predominate (53%) over females. Athletes were aged 20.3(±1.1) yrs. Half of athletes (50%) participated in tennis sport for ≤ 1 year. Most athletes attended tennis 3 – 6 times a week, once a day, for 2 – 3 hours. Most athletes relied on social media for nutrition information. The BMI was optimal (21.8±2.8 kg/m 2 versus 21.1±1.8 kg/m 2 for females and males respectively). Males consumed energy of 27±9.0 kcal/kg/day compared to females (24±8.0 kcal/kg/day). CHO (3.2 g/kg/day females and 3.6 g/kg/day males) and protein (0.7 g/kg/day females and 1.0 g/kg/day males) intakes were also consumed. Fat consumption was optimal for both females (0.6 g/kg/day) and males (0.7 g/kg/day). The dietary practices of the tennis athletes at the University of Limpopo are not in compliance with the sports nutrition guidelines.

http://ejurnal.ubharajaya.ac.id/index.php/JCESPORTSTennis is a global sport usually played with short rest intervals for a duration of 1.5 -3 hours (Fleming et al. 2021).Athletes in this sport are required to have welldeveloped body structures and adequate energy consumption to improve accuracy and power during sports (Mountjoy et al. 2018).Adequate energy is required to meet the demands during training (König et al. 2019) Carbohydrates (CHO) such as bread and cereals, should also form the basis of an athlete's diet to support exercise and strengthen the immune system (Ranchordas et al. 2013).Additional to CHO are protein needed for repairing muscle tissue, ligaments, and tendons (König et al. 2020).
Fat is another macronutrient of importance to maintain athletes' nervous system and cell membranes.Fat can also be a good source of calories for athletes with higher energy needs (König et al. 2019).Lastly, fluid intake is essential for athletes to prevent dehydration (Anderson et al. 2017).
Body weight and/or composition among athletes is important in several sports (Siders, Bolonchuk, and Lukaski 1991).In tennis sport, anthropometric status is a major factor in achievements and reaching

Carbohydrates
An optimal CHO intake enhances recovery and optimizes glycogen stores for the next training session.Therefore, the following macronutrients discussions may provide interesting and helpful insight for athletes, coaches, and trainers of this collegiate sport.

Energy intake
Results in the current study showed that the consumption of energy by females was slightly lower than recommendations, but adequate (27.0±9.0 kcal/kg/day) for males.
The low energy intake among female athletes may possibly reflect the disordered eating habits often reported in athletes (Melin et al. 2019).Another contributing factor to inadequate intake could possibly be concerns related to weight gain which is a trend commonly observed among young athletes (Werner et al. 2013) 6 meals per day, with snacks for athletes to offset energy deficits (Williams and Rollo 2015).However, in our study, the majority of the athletes (87%) consumed meals 2-3 times per day.This might explain another reason for the inadequate intake of some macronutrients.
Otherwise, factors such as lack of financial resources and cultural beliefs may have also contributed (Melin et al. 2019).Athletes need to consume adequate amounts of CHO to optimize sports performance (Kerksick et al. 2018).
In our study, the CHO consumption was 0.7 g/kg and 0.2 g/kg for females and males before the training and 0.1 g/kg and 0 g/kg for females and males in that order.

Protein consumption
It was found in the current study that protein intakes (0.7 g/kg/day for females and 1.0 g/kg/day for males) were also suboptimal.

Dietary fat consumption
In our study, both female and male athletes consumed fat optimally (0.6 g/kg/day and 0.7 g/kg/day respectively).These findings are not surprising as more than half (53%) of the athletes reported regular consumption of convenient foods which are possibly high in fats.Noting that not all fatty acids are created the same, it would be interesting to  et al. 1985).It is, therefore, important for athletes to consume optimal fluids with a solution before, during, and after training for optimal hydration and enhancing performance.

D. Conclusion
This study investigated the adherence

E. Acknowledgments
Tennis athletes and UL sports management at the University of Limpopo. F.
O'Neal 2017).Tennis is among other sporting codes such as rugby and cricket that are infrequently participated (2%) in South Africa, particularly Limpopo Province.It is possible that majority or part of this 2 % of athletes participating in tennis are students registered within the four Universities of Limpopo; University of Limpopo (UL), University of South Africa (UNISA) [Polokwane campus], Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) [Polokwane campus] and University of Venda (UNIVEN).It is noted that Tennis South Africa has established a governing body responsible for promoting tennis sport at the University level.However, there seem to be absence or lack of developed nutrition guidelines for these tennis athletes; which may eventually drive athletes to follow self-designed nutrition strategies or those recommended by their teammates, coaches, and/or media during sports engagement.Some of these nutrition information sources may bear weak scientific support resulting in athletes deviating from guidelines.The latter might be the case for UL tennis team athletes who were identified by the researchers to often attend training and competition sessions without consumption of nutrients before, during, and after sports engagements.These athletes often complained of early fatigue during their training and competition sessions.It is possible that the practices of these athletes deviate from recommendations.Athletes should consume optimal nutrients and fluids when Sepudumo Thabiso, Sekgobela Tumelo Tshabaku, Mamaila Juanita, Masoga Sylven & Mboweni Ntsako Wisdom http://ejurnal.ubharajaya.ac.id/index.php/JCESPORTS1123 engaging in training to minimise episodes of fatigue and further replace damaged muscles.It is concern that the nutrients consumption, timing, dosing of nutrients and fluids during training; and the anthropometric status of these athletes at UL remains unknown.Dietary practices that deviate from guidelines may generally pose health risks such as nutrient deficiencies or excess, bone and kidney problems sooner or later.Having identified these hitches, this study intended to highlight the importance of optimal nutrition, promote a healthy lifestyle, and encourage healthier diets for these imminent UL and other young athletes.Energy Energy balance is important for athletes (Bytomski 2018).Athletes' diets should be sufficient in energy to maintain the energy balance in individuals engaging in physical activity (Kreider et al. 2010).Athletes are discouraged to practice dieting (Mountjoy et al. 2018), however, consume a diet adequate in energy to maintain body weight and health during training (Thomas, Erdman, and Burke 2016).To overcome a negative energy balance, the focus should be on the intake of 4 -6 meals per day.In tennis sport where athletes are engaging in training for 30 -40 minutes per day, energy amount 25 -35 kcal/kg is recommended (Kerksick et al. 2018).
written form by the athletes.Data were collected at the UL sports grounds in the afternoons.Dietary intake information for macronutrients was collected using a 24-hour-recall questionnaire on three different days.Two records were during weekdays, Wednesday and Friday and the other over the weekend, Monday.Athletes were requested to recall all food and fluid items consumed in the previous 24 hours.The frequency of food item consumption as appearing on the 24hour recalls was validated using the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).Nutrient intakes and timing before, during and after the training were also recorded.Weight and height were collected using an electronic flat scale (Seca 813) and portable stadiometer (Seca 213) from Seca Adherence to Sports Nutrition Guidelines by Tennis Athletes Team Representing the University of Limpopo; Limpopo Province, South Africa E-ISSN: 2722-3450 P-ISSN: 2775-3808 1126 http://ejurnal.ubharajaya.ac.id/index.php/JCESPORTSrespectively to calculate BMI.Weight was collected to determine the recommendations relative to body mass.In measuring weight, the scale was placed on a flat surface, calibrated, and zeroed.Athletes were requested to void and remained barefooted in their lighted clothing before the weight was measured.Athletes stood at the center of the scale with weight evenly distributed in both legs and measurement was obtained.Three measurements were conducted and the mean was considered.In obtaining height, athletes stood upright with their arms relaxed to their side and maintained a Frankfurt plane.Measurements of height were taken at full inspiration by the athletes.All readings for weight and height were recorded to the nearest 0.1 kg and 0.1 cm respectively.Dietary data were first analysed using SAMRC food finder (v3) to determine macronutrient values.All the data was then loaded onto the SPSS (v28) for further analysis.Descriptive statistics using percentages, mean and standard deviation values; and a one-way ANOVA test were used to describe the practices and correlate practices of athletes to the anthropometric status of the same athletes respectively.A p-value of <0.05 was a criterion on which variables were considered significant to each other.C. Result and Discussion Result Results for the anthropometric status and dietary practices of the athletes are presented in Tables 2 -10.The ages of the athletes ranged from 17 -24 years with mean ages of 20.3±1.1 and 20.2±2.0 years for males and females respectively.According to Table2, all (100%) athletes were single, unemployed, and still completing their degrees at the University.
and almost all males (n=15; 94%) consumed pure water during the training.In addition, all athletes (N=30; 100%) consumed pure water after the training.
CHO consumed before the training was 0.7±0.0g/kg and 0.2±0.0g/kg for females and males respectively; while the protein intake was insignificant 0.0(±0.0)for both genders.Both female and male athletes consumed CHO (0.1±0.0 g/kg and 0.0±0.0g/kg respectively) suboptimally during Sepudumo Thabiso, Sekgobela Tumelo Tshabaku, Mamaila Juanita, Masoga Sylven & Mboweni Ntsako Wisdom http://ejurnal.ubharajaya.ac.id/index.php/ These intakes are generally suboptimal compared to recommendations possibly explaining a reason for early fatigue that this group usually complain of during training.There was no CHO consumption for our group after the training.Athletes need to consume a combination of CHO (1 g/kg) and protein (0.5 g/kg) at least 30 minutes after training for recovery reasons (Kerksick et al. 2018).
The case was similar to the pre, during, and post-training periods as suboptimal intakes were found.Suboptimal protein intake can result in negative nitrogen energy, adversely affecting performance and further recovery (Kerksick et al. 2018).When athletes are in a negative nitrogen balance, they can experience muscle catabolism resulting in loss of muscle mass and a negatively affecting performance (Kreider et al. 2010).In another study conducted in Limpopo province, similar suboptimal protein intakes among athletes in different sports were reported.Contrary to these, the over-consumption of protein by athletes was reported in a review of young tennis athletes (Fleming et al. 2021).All athletes in the current research were students who were still completing their degrees at the University and unemployed, possibly explaining the reason for suboptimal protein intake due to funds channelled towards education-related needs.This may have limited them to prioritising the purchasing of adequate protein foods or supplements for their sport.
to sports nutrition guidelines by tennis athletes representing the University of Limpopo team at the University of Limpopo.We found that the dietary practices (daily macronutrients and fluids consumption; and nutrients timing and dosing before, during and after the training) of this team are mostly suboptimal to sports nutrition guidelines.Therefore, these athletes are not adhering to sports nutrition guidelines.This warrants the involvement of nutrition experts, for example, Dietitians for regular nutritional assessments and guidance.The inclusion of other sports practitioners such as Physiotherapists or Biokinesticists may also assist in matching the nutritional requirements of the team with the intensity of the training or competition for best individualised meal plans.Similar research using a larger sample should be conducted to better generalise the results.However, to the current research, a qualitative study at the same University should be conducted to determine an indepth understanding of these deviating nutrition practices.

Table 1 . Energy And Macronutrients Recommendations Macronutrient Recommendation Pre-training During Training After Training Per kg/day
B.1.Data collectionA descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to purposively obtain 30 registered UL tennis team athletes.Ethical approval was obtained from Turfloop