IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 6749: Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Diet Quality Profile of the Lithuanian Team of Deaf Women ’s Basketball Players

The objectives of this study were to investigate and evaluate the body composition, the physical working capacity, the nutrition intake, and the blood parameters of iron and vitamin D in the Lithuanian high-performance deaf women’s basketball team players. The female athletes (n = 14) of the Lithuanian deaf basketball team aged 26.4 ± 4.5 years were recruited for an observational cross-sectional study. A 7-day food recall survey method was used to investigate their actual diet. The measurements of the body composition were performed using the BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis) tetra-polar electrodes. In order to assess the cardiorespiratory and aerobic fitness levels of athletes, ergo-spirometry (on a cycle ergometer) was used to measure the peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and the physical working capacity at a heart rate of 170 beats per minute (PWC170). The athletes’ blood tests were taken to investigate the red blood cells, hemoglobin, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, ferritin, transferrin, iron concentrations, and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC). The consideration of the VO2peak (55.9 ± 6.1 mL/min/kg of body weight, 95% CI: 51.8, 58.9) and the low VO2peak (56–60 mL/min/kg of body weight) (p = 0.966) in the deaf women’s basketball team players revealed no differences. For the deaf female athletes, the PWC170 was equal to 20.3 ± 2.0 kgm/min/kg of body weight and represented only the...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research