This discrepancy may be because JNK-IN-8 order while the CFLRI results were based on parental reports, children involved in the current study self-reported their participation. The results are also consistent with previous findings that children involved in organized sport are more likely to be physically active than non-participating peers [22, 23]. The
PA score averages of 2.9 and 3.3 for non-sport and sport groups, respectively are similar to those reported in grade 4, 5 and 6 students in the United Kingdom [24] and 9–18 year olds in Canada [25]. Dietary measures The healthier diet profile observed in the sport group was consistent with previous research on adolescent athletes who, on average, consumed significantly more health promoting foods such as milk and fruit [3, 4, 26] and, for
boys, more vegetables as well [26]. The sport group had higher caloric intake, consuming more fruit, vegetables, fibre and non-flavoured milk than the non-sport group. Even so, less than 50% of the children in sport and non-sport groups met recommended guidelines for fruits and vegetables and the sport group consumed more fat. While these results support the notion that sport-involved children have healthier diets, clearly the diets of both groups have room for improvement. SSB consumption by both sport and non-sport children in the study was slightly lower than the 450–534 g reported for 9–13 y olds in the CCHS [27]. eFT508 As well, unlike other reports on adolescents, no differences in Org 27569 SSB or sports drink consumption was observed between those who were and were not involved in organized sport. Ranjit and colleagues noted a positive association between sports drink
consumption and participation in organized physical activity and a negative association between soda consumption and organized activity in adolescents [10]. In other research, athletic adolescents were more likely to consume sports drinks than BIRB 796 cost non-athletic adolescents [3]. It is possible that the younger cohort in the current study was not yet influenced by coaches and the media, or was not involved in high intensity training and sport competition (back-to-back training, multiple games or tournament play). It may also be that the younger students lacked the purchasing power of the older adolescents. Strengths and limitations One novel element of the study was that, to our knowledge, it is the first examination of sports drink consumption in this age group. A strength of the study was the relatively large sample size (n = 1421) of similar aged children. Also, two different instruments were used to assess diet and even though the dietary recall measured volume and the FFQ measured frequency, both instruments showed similar trends. We also acknowledge that a cross-sectional study has a number of limitations.