Cargando…

Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis

It is common practice in combat sports that athletes rapidly lose body weight before a match, by applying different practices—some safer and others possibly dangerous. The factors behind the choice of practices utilised have not been fully studied. This study aimed to investigate the weight loss str...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Amatori, Stefano, Barley, Oliver R., Gobbi, Erica, Vergoni, Diego, Carraro, Attilio, Baldari, Carlo, Guidetti, Laura, Rocchi, Marco B. L., Perroni, Fabrizio, Sisti, Davide
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7727866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33255390
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238727
_version_ 1783621145436618752
author Amatori, Stefano
Barley, Oliver R.
Gobbi, Erica
Vergoni, Diego
Carraro, Attilio
Baldari, Carlo
Guidetti, Laura
Rocchi, Marco B. L.
Perroni, Fabrizio
Sisti, Davide
author_facet Amatori, Stefano
Barley, Oliver R.
Gobbi, Erica
Vergoni, Diego
Carraro, Attilio
Baldari, Carlo
Guidetti, Laura
Rocchi, Marco B. L.
Perroni, Fabrizio
Sisti, Davide
author_sort Amatori, Stefano
collection PubMed
description It is common practice in combat sports that athletes rapidly lose body weight before a match, by applying different practices—some safer and others possibly dangerous. The factors behind the choice of practices utilised have not been fully studied. This study aimed to investigate the weight loss strategies used by Italian boxers and to look at the difference between higher and lower risk practice adaptors. A modified version of a validated questionnaire has been sent to 164 amateur (88%) and professional (12%) boxers by email. A heatmap with hierarchical clustering was used to explore the presence of subgroups. Weight loss strategies were used by 88% of the athletes. Two clusters were found, defined by the severity of weight loss behaviours. Professional fighters, high-level athletes and females were more represented in Cluster 2, the one with more severe weight-loss practices. These athletes were characterised by a higher weight loss magnitude and frequency throughout the season and reported being more influenced by physicians and nutritionists, compared with the boxers in Cluster 1. Not all the weight loss practices are used with the same frequency by all boxers. The level of the athlete and the boxing style have an influence on the weight-cutting practices.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7727866
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-77278662020-12-11 Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis Amatori, Stefano Barley, Oliver R. Gobbi, Erica Vergoni, Diego Carraro, Attilio Baldari, Carlo Guidetti, Laura Rocchi, Marco B. L. Perroni, Fabrizio Sisti, Davide Int J Environ Res Public Health Article It is common practice in combat sports that athletes rapidly lose body weight before a match, by applying different practices—some safer and others possibly dangerous. The factors behind the choice of practices utilised have not been fully studied. This study aimed to investigate the weight loss strategies used by Italian boxers and to look at the difference between higher and lower risk practice adaptors. A modified version of a validated questionnaire has been sent to 164 amateur (88%) and professional (12%) boxers by email. A heatmap with hierarchical clustering was used to explore the presence of subgroups. Weight loss strategies were used by 88% of the athletes. Two clusters were found, defined by the severity of weight loss behaviours. Professional fighters, high-level athletes and females were more represented in Cluster 2, the one with more severe weight-loss practices. These athletes were characterised by a higher weight loss magnitude and frequency throughout the season and reported being more influenced by physicians and nutritionists, compared with the boxers in Cluster 1. Not all the weight loss practices are used with the same frequency by all boxers. The level of the athlete and the boxing style have an influence on the weight-cutting practices. MDPI 2020-11-24 2020-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7727866/ /pubmed/33255390 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238727 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Amatori, Stefano
Barley, Oliver R.
Gobbi, Erica
Vergoni, Diego
Carraro, Attilio
Baldari, Carlo
Guidetti, Laura
Rocchi, Marco B. L.
Perroni, Fabrizio
Sisti, Davide
Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis
title Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis
title_full Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis
title_fullStr Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis
title_short Factors Influencing Weight Loss Practices in Italian Boxers: A Cluster Analysis
title_sort factors influencing weight loss practices in italian boxers: a cluster analysis
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7727866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33255390
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238727
work_keys_str_mv AT amatoristefano factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT barleyoliverr factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT gobbierica factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT vergonidiego factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT carraroattilio factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT baldaricarlo factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT guidettilaura factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT rocchimarcobl factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT perronifabrizio factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis
AT sistidavide factorsinfluencingweightlosspracticesinitalianboxersaclusteranalysis