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...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
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 |