Association between self-efficacy and dietary behaviours of American football players in the Polish Clubs in the light of dietary recommendations for athletes.

BACKGROUND Personality traits associated with one's health beliefs and expectations constitute a determinant of dietary behaviours. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to analyse the dietary behaviours of young American football players in the Polish clubs and association thereof with their general self-efficacy level. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included the group of 100 young men (20-30 years of age) who practiced American football on a professional basis in three Polish clubs. The study was based on an original dietary behaviour questionnaire derived from the Swiss Food Pyramid for Athletes and General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). Statistical analysis, conducted with Statistica 10.0 PL software, included intergroup comparisons with the Chi-square test. RESULTS Having at least three meals per day (82%), consumption of such protein products as eggs and/or meat several times per week (68%) and including cereal products in every main meal (67%) turned out to be the most often followed qualitative recommendations of the Swiss Food Pyramid for Athletes in the group of American football players. Other, frequently followed dietary recommendations included remaining on a variable diet (75%), preference to mineral water and other non- sweetened beverages (69%), reduced intake of sweets and salted snacks (65%), energy drinks (64%) and fast food products (60%). The least frequently declared dietary behaviours included consuming recommended amounts of vegetables/fruits (48%) and wholegrain cereal products (45%), and reduced intake of animal fats (42%). Analysis of a relationship between specific dietary behaviours and general self-efficacy level showed that the athletes with higher levels of this trait consumed recommended daily amounts of vegetables (54% vs. 26%, p<0.01) and cereal products (87% vs. 50%, p<0.001), had recommended number of meals per day (96% vs. 70%, p<0.001) and ate regularly (76% vs. 24%, p<0.001) significantly more often than the persons characterized by lower self-efficacy levels. CONCLUSIONS Players with higher general self-efficacy levels adhere to the recommendations of the Swiss Food Pyramid for Athletes to a larger extent than the sportsmen with lower levels of this trait.