Protein supplementation and dietary behaviours of resistance trained men and women attending commercial gyms: a comparative study between the city centre and the suburbs of Palermo, Italy

Abstract

Background

It is anecdotally recognized that commercial gym users assume supplements in order to improve performance or health. However, dietary behaviours of people and athletes attending commercial gyms have been poorly studied. The exact amount and frequency of dietary supplements consumption are still needed to be investigated. The main purpose of this study is to understand the quantity and quality of food intake, as well as dietary supplementation in people attending commercial gyms. Secondly to compare the city centre and the suburbs of Palermo, Italy.

Methods

A face-to-face questionnaire was administered to 561 subjects, 207 from the city centre (CC) and 354 from the suburbs (SB) of Palermo, Italy. Frequency of protein supplements use and association with dietary behaviours were investigated. Subsequently, the frequency distribution was used for demographic assessment.

Results

Frequency of protein consumption was similar in both groups (30% for CC and 28.8% for SB). Males show greater consumption percentages than females (30.5% in males and 6.9% in females). Milk and chicken are the most frequently consumed foods. Data show that non-supplement users (NSU) consume significantly more snacks and bakery products than supplement users (SU) (P < 0.001). While, SU consume significantly higher quantities of vegetables, nuts, fresh fish, eggs and canned tuna (P < 0.001). SU consume less low protein food and higher protein foods than NSU. No differences were found between CC and SB.

Conclusions

Protein consumption among commercial gym users is 30% for the CC and 28.8% for the SB. Significant differences were found between CC and SB females, underlining an interesting discrepancy, indicating to dietary supplement industries regarding regional implications. Subjects that use protein supplements also consume larger quantities of high protein food compared to NSU. NSU also eat higher proportions of unhealthy food compared to SU.

Keywords:

• Dietary behaviour
• Protein project
• Protein supplements
• Questionnaire
• Gym

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1550-2783-11-30) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1550-2783-11-30) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to CONI Sicilia (National Olympic Committee). We also want to thank the participants and the fitness/gym centres managers.

We are in debts with Prof. Giovanni Caramazza (CONI Sicilia President).

We are also grateful to Mr. Ryan Osborn (Erasmus Student from Greenwich University) for his invaluable manuscript syntax and grammar corrections.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

All authors have effectively contributed to this work in its different production stages. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.