Association of Body Composition, Growth, and Maturation Status With Physical Activity and Adherence With Mediterranean Diet in Youth Triathletes

Triathlon is an individual, multidisciplinary and resistance sport with three stages: swimming, cycling and running, linked by two transitions. The importance of knowing body composition, eating patterns, level of physical activity and maturational state, will allow influence on training, increasing sports performance.

Regarding body composition and its relationship with performance, it has been observed that the greater the body fat, the lower the physical performance of triathletes. In each sport, athletes have different composition somatotypes. For triathlon, it is difficult to establish a specific somatotype, since it is a modality that encompasses three sports, among which the anthropometric characteristics of the athletes who practice them are not similar. In addition, since it is a relatively new category, there are not enough bibliographical references regarding anthropometry and body composition.

During biological maturation, there is an increase in the basal metabolic rate, so an optimal diet helps the growth process and improves the performance and recovery of athletes. Therefore, in the early stages of childhood and adolescence, adherence to the diet plays an important role in the acquisition of healthy lifestyles to determine an optimal state of health. The Mediterranean Diet model is associated with healthy eating habits, high levels of quality of life and physical benefits.