Abstract

This study was performed to compare nutritional supplementation habits for Korean professional soccer players with those for the non-athletic male adults. Information about prevalence and kinds of supplements taken, information sources, nutrition knowledge were collected. Data were obtained from 53 football players working for Korean professional football clubs and 44 non-athletic males, who answered a list of questionnaires which had been prepared in advance. The prevalence of supplement use in the soccer player group (96%) was strikingly higher than in the nonathletic male group (34%). Vitamins were taken most frequently, followed by red ginseng, multivitamin, Chinese medicine and amino acids supplements in the soccer player group, with each player taking 2.96 kinds of supplements in average. Multivitamin was the most popular supplement in the non-athletic male group. The major reason for taking supplements was not to feel and recover from fatigue in both groups. It appeared that the non-athletic males started to use supplements mostly by recommendation of friends or colleagues. Meanwhile, soccer players took supplements on their needs, with half of them (50.1%) provided with nutrition information. The most important information source was coaches for soccer players group, and mass media for the non-athletic male group. The average scores of soccer players group on basic nutrition and athletic nutrition were lower than the respective values of the non-athletic males. Among the soccer players, 68% had taken more than 3 kinds of supplements during the last year; nonetheless, more than half could not perceive the effectiveness of the supplements. Our results show that supplementation practices were widespread in soccer players, and suggest that nutrition education for proper use of supplements and overall health care is needed for soccer players.

• Keywords: Korean professional football players; non-athletic males; supplement use; prevalence; nutrition knowledge