Eighty percent of male judoka's between 12 and 17 years old try to lose weight one week before the match. More than half of them do this by skipping meals. Israeli research shows that two thirds of the judoka's indicate that the trainer plays the most important role in the choice to lose weight.
- Berkovich BE, Eliakim A, Nemet D, Stark AH, Sinai T (2015) Rapid weight loss among adolescents participating in competitive judo. Int. J. Sport Nutr. Exerc. Metab., In Press, doi: 10.1123 / ijsnem.2015-0196
In weight class sports, such as judo, there is a delicate balance between achieving the permissible body weight within the chosen weight class and delivering a top performance. It is known that losing body weight shortly before a race sometimes leads to extreme methods of losing weight. For example, athletes sometimes choose to eat very little or even skip meals and let themselves dry out by, for example, making an intensive effort in a rain suit. Losing weight is part of the culture in weight class sports and many athletes and trainers consider this as normal. Berkovich and colleagues have now investigated whether losing weight is already part of the competition preparation at a young age.
Pressure of the trainer
In total, 108 male judokas from regional to international level with an age of 12-17 years participated in this study. Using questionnaires, the researchers tried to gain insight into the extent to which weight loss among young judoka's is part of a competition preparation. For example, they asked whether the participants try to lose weight for a race and if so, at what age they did so for the first time. In addition, it was asked how many days before a race they start trying to lose weight, what the weight is that they lose and what methods they use for that. In addition, they asked the judokas who had the most influence to switch to fast weight loss for a competition.
Rapid weight loss for a competition
On average 80% of young judokas from this study try to lose weight for a competition. They start losing weight for a race on average at 12.5 years of age. In about 8 days the judoka's lose about 1.5 kg. Most judokas indicated that they use multiple methods to lose weight. For example, 83% of judokas indicated that they were losing weight by being physically more active. Approximately half of the judokas indicated that they would lose moisture through training in a warm environment or wearing plastic suits (such as rain suits) in order to lose weight. More than 80% skip 1 or 2 meals a day and almost half of the participants do not eat an entire day every week for a race. The judoka's indicate that the trainer has a very big influence on quickly dropping out for a race. Parents and teammates appear to have less, but still considerable, influence.
Conclusion
Wanting to lose weight just before a race is something that judokas learn from an early age. The researchers point out that always wanting to lose weight before a competition is not healthy and can even hinder growth and development. This research was conducted at Israeli judoka's. However, it is not expected that the percentages found will deviate much in comparison with Dutch judokas. It turns out that trainers and also parents and teammates have a very big influence on the behavior of children when it comes to losing weight quickly for a competition. So there seems to be a culture in which falling quickly before a game is "normal" while this is, even for young athletes, even harmful.
- Berkovich BE, Eliakim A, Nemet D, Stark AH, Sinai T (2015) Rapid weight loss among adolescents participating in competitive judo. Int. J. Sport Nutr. Exerc. Metab., In Press, doi: 10.1123 / ijsnem.2015-0196
In weight class sports, such as judo, there is a delicate balance between achieving the permissible body weight within the chosen weight class and delivering a top performance. It is known that losing body weight shortly before a race sometimes leads to extreme methods of losing weight. For example, athletes sometimes choose to eat very little or even skip meals and let themselves dry out by, for example, making an intensive effort in a rain suit. Losing weight is part of the culture in weight class sports and many athletes and trainers consider this as normal. Berkovich and colleagues have now investigated whether losing weight is already part of the competition preparation at a young age.
Pressure of the trainer
In total, 108 male judokas from regional to international level with an age of 12-17 years participated in this study. Using questionnaires, the researchers tried to gain insight into the extent to which weight loss among young judoka's is part of a competition preparation. For example, they asked whether the participants try to lose weight for a race and if so, at what age they did so for the first time. In addition, it was asked how many days before a race they start trying to lose weight, what the weight is that they lose and what methods they use for that. In addition, they asked the judokas who had the most influence to switch to fast weight loss for a competition.
Rapid weight loss for a competition
On average 80% of young judokas from this study try to lose weight for a competition. They start losing weight for a race on average at 12.5 years of age. In about 8 days the judoka's lose about 1.5 kg. Most judokas indicated that they use multiple methods to lose weight. For example, 83% of judokas indicated that they were losing weight by being physically more active. Approximately half of the judokas indicated that they would lose moisture through training in a warm environment or wearing plastic suits (such as rain suits) in order to lose weight. More than 80% skip 1 or 2 meals a day and almost half of the participants do not eat an entire day every week for a race. The judoka's indicate that the trainer has a very big influence on quickly dropping out for a race. Parents and teammates appear to have less, but still considerable, influence.
Conclusion
Wanting to lose weight just before a race is something that judokas learn from an early age. The researchers point out that always wanting to lose weight before a competition is not healthy and can even hinder growth and development. This research was conducted at Israeli judoka's. However, it is not expected that the percentages found will deviate much in comparison with Dutch judokas. It turns out that trainers and also parents and teammates have a very big influence on the behavior of children when it comes to losing weight quickly for a competition. So there seems to be a culture in which falling quickly before a game is "normal" while this is, even for young athletes, even harmful.
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