August/September 2022 - 29

Nutrition
This can look like students having a lot of access to food
while they are in-season with their sporting program,
then off-season or during their training peak prior
to the season they are skipping meals due to lack of
availability, consuming only provided snacks, or eating
the same inexpensive items daily (e.g. rice and beans or
Ramen noodles).
While food insecurity can greatly affect youth athletes
as well, this article is going to focus on highlighting
studies looking at collegiate athletes specifically.
PREVALENCE
The prevalence of food insecurity in college athletes
may be higher than you expect. According to the Hope
Center Survey (2019), 39% of the student-athletes
surveyed stated that at times they face food insecurity.
In another report, food insecurity was noted for 39.6%
of student-athletes (Mayeyx, 2020). In another study,
the result was 29% of student-athletes that experienced
some level of food insecurity/hunger (Misener, 2020).
In a study by Brown, et al. (2021), it was examined
which subsets were at higher risk of food insecurity.
The results suggested that Hispanic and Black studentathletes,
those that did not have a meal plan, firstgeneration
college students, recipients of the
Pell Grant, and those that had experienced
food insecurity prior to
attending college were
all at greater risk of food
insecurity during their time
as a collegiate studentathlete.
As
food prices
Decreased
Muslce
strength
continue to rise at
a more rapid rate
than scholarship
checks or the
hourly pay rate,
we can likely
expect to see these
numbers increase.
NEGATIVE
IMPACTS
The negative
effects of the
lack of food access
are fairly straightforward.
In reviewing Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs, access
to food is a basic human
need and is at the base
of the pyramid. In Maslow's theory, the rest
of the needs cannot be achieved until the basic
physiological needs are taken care of, therefore, those
Decreased
gylogen
stores
without food cannot hope to reach the levels of love and
belonging, esteem, or self-actualization that we are all
striving for and helping our athletes strive to achieve.
Trauma often refers to an occurrence that disrupts the
feeling of one's safety and feeling of security. If someone
consistently has times throughout the year in which they
are uncertain of how they will access enough of their
basic need which is food, this can create long-lasting
traumatic thoughts and feelings around food that will
likely permeate other aspects of their lives. Additionally,
those who suffer from food insecurity are likely to have
lower classroom GPAs (Mayeux, 2020).
As proven many times over, a continuous or
Decreased
endurance
peformance
semi-regular caloric deficit negatively impacts both
performance and health. This is often referred to as
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). This can
occur from solely caloric deficits but can also be caused
by a lack of certain food groups or macronutrients.
This diagram from the IOC consensus statement on
relative deficiency in sport (2014) shows the many
consequences of RED-S. The diagram is often used
to educate athletes on the dangers of not consuming
enough to support training but is generally discussed
as a choice that they are making, not a product of
circumstance. Food insecurity has also been linked
to an increase in disordered eating behaviors.
Food insecurity does not
always mean being in a
caloric deficit. It can mean
binging when food is
available. It could look like
athletes shoving extra
snacks in their
lockers. It could
look like eating
at McDonald's
every day
Decreased
training
response
because $4.00
RED-s
depression
impaired
judgement
today looks better
than $50.00 at
the grocery
store if they
are uncertain
of what other
bills may pop
up. The demands
Decreased
concentration
Decreased
cordination
on athletes' bodies
are extremely high as is
the pressure to perform.
Yet, inconsistent meals,
and meals of low nutritional
value, reduces their bodies'
ability to recover and adapt to training at a
high level. Another issue that compounds low
food availability, is the increase in energy needs that
training-conditioning.com | 29
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August/September 2022

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