OBJECTIVES: This study examined the physical activity patterns of the University of Santo Tomas college students in Manila, Philippines in terms of participation in moderate to vigorous physical activity, frequency and duration of participation, METS-min/week, sitting habits and walking activities. METHODS: A total of 551 males and 850 female college students (N=1401) from the University of Santo Tomas were randomly selected for the study. After anthropometric measurements (height, weight, BMI and Waist circumference) were taken, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (short form) was answered by the students. RESULTS: A greater percentage of male college students engage in vigorous physical activity (66.97%) in terms of frequency per week (2.42 + 1.56 days), duration (119.52 + 70.70 minutes) and MET-min/week (2252.77 + 2789.81 METS). On the other hand, more female college students engage in moderate physical activity in terms of frequency per week (4.69 + 2.04 days). However, male college students who engage in moderate physical activity spend a longer duration (106.02 + 108.55 minutes) and higher METmin/week (1945.59 + 2721.02 METS) than their female counterpart. CONCLUSION It is important to engage in physical activity on a daily basis, with recommendations given by the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization. Appropriate physical activity assists young people to develop healthy musculoskeletal tissues, cardiovascular system, neuromuscular awareness and maintain a healthy body weight and composition. It has also been associated with psychological benefits in young people by improving control over anxiety and depression, good selfperception and expression, as well as avoidance of tobacco, alcohol and drug use.

Background: The Dietary Habits and Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (DHNKQ) is a validated assessment tool that provides information about the nutritional practices of collegiate athletes as an integral support to sports performance. This psychometric study aims to translate and validate the DHNKQ for the Filipino collegiate population to come up with the DHNKQ-FIL using various psychometric protocols consolidated into two phases. Methods: The first phase involved the translation of the tool into Filipino and testing for face and content validity through a focus group discussion by an expert committee and was finalized with the administration of a pre-test to 30 collegiate athletes for final modification purposes. The second phase tested the validated DHNKQ-FIL on a new set of 30 collegiate athletes for internal consistency and reliability testing, statistically analyzed using Cronbach’s α and intraclass correlation coefficient, respectively. Results: The DHNKQ-FIL used modern Filipino terminologies, more appropriate for the modern Filipino collegiate athlete. Item Content Validity Index (I-CVI) had scores of 90% and above in semantic, idiomatic, experiential, and conceptual equivalence for both sections. Food guides and choices, along with the usage of medical jargon, were identified areas for modification in the validity testing. Pre-test subjects considered the questionnaire appropriate and applicable for Filipino athletes after cognitive interview. The pilot test showed scale reliability scores of 0.68 or “Questionable” for dietary habits section and 0.81 or “Good” for nutritional knowledge. Test-retest reliability had a score of 0.79 or “Acceptable” for dietary habits and 0.60 or “Questionable” for nutrition knowledge. Conclusion The acceptable scores for the translation, validation, and reliability of the DHNKQ-FIL makes it a valid tool for assessing dietary habit and nutritional knowledge among Filipino collegiate athletes.
Feeding Behavior

Feeding Behavior ; Obesity ; Overweight

BACKGROUND

Sleep is crucial for performance, overall health, and well-being. However, suboptimal sleep exists, particularly in the athletic population, due to factors that come with the responsibility of an athlete. The sleep health of athletes from combat sports like Amateur Boxing (AB), Wushu-Sanda (WS), and Pencak Silat (PS) have not received enough attention, even more so with the usage of Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) to discover the presence of possible clinical sleeping problems. Such sports use the anaerobic energy system which produces their quick and explosive movements, but is afflicted by disturbed sleep.

The primary objective of the study is to describe the sleep health of AB, WS, and PS Philippine National Athletes using the ASSQ. This study is a continuation of predecessor research which instead focused on combat sports Judo and Taekwondo. The secondary objective is to correlate socio-demographic variables, which include: age, gender, current level of education, years of training in sport, years of training as a national athlete, weekly training hours, and current phase of the season to sleep health without identifying causation.

This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study will utilize the total enumeration sampling method from 41 Philippine National Athletes from three sports. The data gathering will utilize (1) the socio-demographic questionnaire and (2) ASSQ on mobile devices during face-to-face procedures. The study will employ descriptive statistics to outline the characteristics of the data, while Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient will be used to examine the relationship.

The study expects to identify the sleep health of combat sports athletes competing in AB, PS, and WS using the ASSQ. It also determines an association between sleep health and sociodemographic variables.

OBJECTIVES: The study aims to assess the dietary habits and nutritional knowledge of selected Philippine national combat sports athletes and determine the correlation of demographics and sources of nutrition information with participants' dietary habits and nutrition knowledge. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included assessing boxing and taekwondo Philippine national athletes using the Dietary Habits and Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire: Filipino Version. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics between sports comparison and exploratory correlation and regression analyses. Alpha was set at 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 44 participants aged 21+ 3.4 years were able to participate in the study. Responses revealed that 69.44% have fair dietary habits and 73.54% have good nutritional knowledge. Results indicated no significant difference between the two sports in dietary habits and nutritional knowledge (p>0.05). Further analyses revealed that years in playing (r= 0.32, p= 0.04), and sources of nutrition information, precisely strength and conditioning coach (r= 0.36, p= 0.02), and peers (r= 0.39, p= 0.01) have a significant correlation with good dietary habit and nutritional knowledge, respectively. CONCLUSION Overall, Filipino national athletes of boxing and taekwondo have fair dietary habits and sound nutritional knowledge. Furthermore, nutritional knowledge sources are possible relevant factors that may affect the dietary habits and nutritional knowledge of combat sports athletes.