Seasonal health tracking of Australian Football League Women’s athletes

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow of athlete participation through the study.

Figure 1 presents the total number of athletes recruited, and those that withdrew at various stages, with reasoning for withdrawal.

Table 1. Iron status, anthropometry, and GPS data of ALW athletes across seasons (mean ± SD).

Variable (recommended range)	Preseason Start (n = 19)	Preseason End (n = 17)	Competition End (n = 16)	Preseason Start vs Preseason End		Preseason Start vs Competition End		Preseason End vs Competition End
				p-value	Cohen’s d [95% CI]	p-value	Cohen’s d [95% CI]	p-value	Cohen’s d [95% CI]
Iron Status	n = 19	n = 13	n = 12
Serum iron (10 – 30 umol/L)^a	15±7	18±7	19±7	0.129	-0.4 [-0.9, 7.0]	0.241	-0.6 [-1.6, 6.4]	0.783	-0.1 [-5.0, 3.8]
Transferrin (2.1 – 3.8 umol/L)^a	2.7±0.4	2.6±0.4	2.8±0.5	0.926	0.3 [-0.2, 0.2]	0.520	-0.2 [-0.1, 0.3]	0.612	-0.5 [-0.2, 0.3]
Transferrin saturation (15 – 45 %)^a	24±10	32±13	31±12	0.017	-0.7 [1.5, 15.1]	0.064	-0.7 [-0.4, 13.6]	0.671	0.1 [-9.3, 6.0]
Ferritin (30 – 220 umol/L)^a	55±29	57±48	70±41	0.895	-0.1 [-21.0, 24.0]	0.245	-0.4 [-9.4, 36.9]	0.343	-0.3 [-13.0, 37.5]
Anthropometry	n = 19	n = 17	n = 15
Body mass, kg	66.1±7.0	65.4±6.8	66.4±7.0	0.940	0.1 [-0.6, 0.5]	0.065	0.0 [-0.0, 1.1]	0.061	-0.1 [-0.0, 1.1]
Body fat, %	28.5±3.9	27.4±3.4	28.5±4.0	0.018	0.3 [-1.5, -0.1]	0.524	0.0 [-0.5, 0.9]	0.004	-0.3 [0.3, 1.7]
Fat free mass, kg	47.1±3.1	47.3±3.5	47.3±3.4	0.070	-0.1 [-0.0, 1.0]	0.462	-0.1 [-0.3, 0.7]	0.311	0.0 [-0.8, 0.3]
Sum of 7, mm	69.6±13.6	61.2±15.1	67.1±17.3	<0.001	0.6 [-12.2, -4.1]	0.268	0.2 [-6.7, 1.9]	0.009	-0.4 [1.4, 10.0]
GPS	n = 17	n = 16	n = 15
Total distance, m	6416±1208	6548±1195	4775±602	0.506	-0.1 [-364.2, 738.1]	<0.001	1.6 [-2245.5, -1169.6]	<0.001	1.8 [-2462.1, -1326.9]
VHIR distance, m	290±133	351±108	240±105	0.045	-0.5 [1.3, 111.7]	0.038	0.4 [-110.7, -3.0]	<0.001	1.0 [-170.2, -56.5]
VHIR, no. of efforts	8±4	12±4	9±4	<0.001	-1.0 [2.4, 5.7]	0.234	-0.3 [-0.6, 2.5]	<0.001	0.8 [-4.8, -1.4]

^aSourced from Australian Clinical Labs 2022.

GPS, global positioning system; VHIR, very high intensity running.

Table 2. Dietary intake of AFLW athletes across seasons (mean ± SD).

Daily intake (recommendations)	Preseason Start (n = 19)		Preseason End (n = 15)		Competition End (n = 11)		Preseason Start vs Preseason End		Preseason Start vs Competition End		Preseason End vs Competition End
	Intake	% met min. rec.	Intake	% met min. rec.	Intake	% met min. rec.	p-value	Cohen’s d [95% CI]	p-value	Cohen’s d [95% CI]	p-value	Cohen’s d [95% CI]
Energy, kJ (9654–12068 kJ/day)^a	8879 ± 1652*	32	8520 ± 1251*	20	8316 ± 1196*	18	0.360	0.2 [−1088.6, 395.8]	0.166	0.4 [−1417.4, 243.1]	0.579	0.2 [−1417.4, 243.1]
CHO, g/kg (%) (5–10 g/kg/day)^b	3.6 ± 1.0^ (44%)	16	3.1 ± 1.0^ (42%)	0	3.2 ± 0.5^ (43%)	0	0.028	0.5 [−1.0, −0.1]	0.062	0.5 [−1.1, 0.0]	0.991	−0.1 [−0.6, 0.1]
PRO, g/kg (%) (1.4–2.0 g/kg/day)^b	1.9 ± 0.5 (24%)	90	1.6 ± 0.3 (22%)	64	1.4 ± 0.3 (19%)	46	0.006	0.7 [−0.4, −0.1]	<0.001	1.1 [−0.6, −0.2]	0.106	0.7 [−0.4, 0.0]
FAT, g/kg (%) (20–35%TEI)^c	1.0 ± 0.2 (28%)	100	1.1 ± 0.5 (34%)	100	1.2 ± 0.3 (36%)	100	<0.001	-1.1 [2.3, 7.8]	<0.001	-1.6 [3.3, 9.4]	0.408	−0.4 [−1.8, 4.5]
SFA, g/kg (%) (<10%TEI)^c	0.3 ± 0.1(9%)	68	0.4 ± 0.1 (11%)^^	29	0.5 ± 0.2 (14%)^^	9	<0.001	-1.0 [1.1, 3.3]	<0.001	-2.1 [3.1, 5.6]	0.001	-1.2 [0.9, 3.5]
Fibre, g (25 g/day)^c	29 ± 7	63	24 ± 4	33	21 ± 5**	18	0.013	0.9 [−7.4, −0.9]	<0.001	1.3 [−10.8, −3.6]	0.106	0.7 [−6.8, 0.7]
Alcohol, g (20 g/day)^c	0 ± 1	100	0 ± 0	100	3 ± 5	100	0.610	0.0 [−2.0, 1.2]	0.007	-1.0 [0.7, 4.1]	0.002	-0.9 [1.0, 4.6]
Calcium, mg (1000 mg/day)^c	991 ± 397	37	843 ± 253**	33	804 ± 243**	9	0.058	0.4 [−251.6, 4.2]	0.097	0.5 [−265.4, 22.1]	0.978	0.2 [−143.7, 147.8]
Iron, mg (18 mg/day)^c	12 ± 3**	5	10 ± 2**	0	10 ± 2**	0	0.051	0.8 [−3.2, 0.0]	0.006	0.7 [−4.3, −0.7]	0.333	0.0 [−2.7, 0.9]
Sodium, mg (<2000 mg/day)^c	2516 ± 882^^	32	2412 ± 809^^	33	2567 ± 606^^	0	0.757	0.1 [−410.8, 298.9]	0.975	−0.1 [−392.1, 404.7]	0.763	−0.2 [−343.2, 467.7]
Vitamin B-12, ug (2.4 ug/day)^c	5 ± 3	95	4 ± 1	93	4 ± 2	91	0.370	0.4 [−1.6, 0.6]	0.769	0.4 [−1.4, 1.1]	0.620	0.0 [−1.0, 1.6]

*Significantly lower than minimum EER based on the ^aSchofield equation¹⁵ multiplied by PAL of 1.6–2.0, p<0.05; ^significantly lower than the ^bAmerican College of Sport Medicine recommendations⁷, p<0.05;**significantly lower than ^cNutrient Reference Values¹⁶ (NRV), p<0.05; ^^significantly higher than NRV, p<0.05.

CHO, Carbohydrate; EER, Estimated Energy Requirement; PAL, Physical Activity Level; PRO, Protein; SFA, Saturated fat; % met min. rec., proportion of athletes who met the minimum recommendations.

Australian Clinical Labs. Iron studies Australia. 2022. https://www.clinicallabs.com.au/functional-pathology-old/practitioners/functional-tests-arterial/iron-studies/.]

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