A young football player who suffered a tachycardia attack during a match after drinking an energy drink containing an “astronomical” amount of caffeine. A swimmer who consumes too many vitamin supplements and exceeds the recommended daily magnesium limit. A teenage gymnast who eliminates food categories to flatten her stomach in her tight leotard. Dietitians-nutritionists are sounding the alarm. Their professional order asks Quebec to act to better supervise the student and civilian sports environment.
Mélanie Olivier, president and founder of the Vivaï sports nutrition clinic, receives every week young amateur athletes who take too many vitamin supplements or who have stopped consuming food after receiving inadequate advice from a coach, a physical trainer or a person who has completed some training in nutrition. “At the slightest bit of bloating, we cut out gluten, milk, dairy products,” laments the dietitian-nutritionist. We see this frequently. »
She recently received a competitive hockey player who developed an eating disorder following, she says, “a comment from a coach”. “On the hockey team, [les joueurs] weighed themselves every week for no apparent reason,” she explains. The boy went on a diet and suffered stress fractures linked to “weakened bone density.” He is being followed in psychology. He no longer performs as well on the ice.
The Order of Dietitians-Nutritionists of Quebec (ODNQ) claims to receive a report each month concerning a “concerning” recommendation made by a non-professional. An example ? A person who advocates on social media the ketogenic diet (low-carb, high-fat diet) for young footballers. The ODNQ investigations office contacted her “to raise awareness,” indicates the president of the Order, Joëlle Emond.
But the ODNQ could not do more. In Quebec, the activities reserved for dietitians-nutritionists are clinical and are carried out “in the context of a medical prescription” when there is illness. “Sports nutrition is part of healthy eating,” explains Joëlle Emond. When we do sport, we don’t get sick. » Nutrition advice can, however, have “significant effects, especially among young people who are growing,” she points out.
The ODNQ believes that the government must better supervise the amateur sports community in terms of nutrition. He asks the Minister responsible for Sport, Leisure and the Outdoors, Isabelle Charest, to modify her Bill 45 — which aims to “strengthen the protection of the integrity of people in leisure and sports” — in order to include measures that ensure “safe nutritional status” of athletes.
In a brief submitted to the minister, the Order recommends in particular that training be offered to coaches and people “likely to intervene” with young athletes. Dietitian-nutritionist Emilie Comtois-Rousseau, specialized in sports nutrition, believes that it is a necessity. According to her, the level of knowledge about nutrition among young people and coaches is “very low”. Nutritional misinformation is “exploding” online.
“How many young people tell me that they are too fat, that they want to have a six-pack [abdominaux]adopt super restrictive diets and, because of this, never gain the muscle mass they need to gain,” says the nutritionist at the Excellence sportive center in Outaouais and head dietitian of the sports teams at the University of Ottawa, the Gee-Gees.
In training camp, “too many” of them, according to her, refuse an ice cream sandwich or an ice lolly “under the pretext that it will slightly harm their sporting performance.” “Every day, I am somewhat obliged to debunk myths,” says Emilie Comtois-Rousseau. Eating a Timbit that contains 50 calories is a peanut when your caloric needs are 7000 per day. »
Reactions from Minister Charest’s office
In Isabelle Charest’s office, it is indicated that the minister is a nutritionist by training and that she is “therefore very aware of these issues”. “We were able to read the report presented by the Order of Dietitians-Nutritionists of Quebec,” we write. As with the other submissions received, we find interesting proposals which will guide us for the rest of the work. » Bill 45 will soon be the subject of a detailed study.
At Sports Québec, the general director, Isabelle Ducharme, believes that the ODNQ’s recommendations are “laudable” and “welcome”. “But the question is: what can be included in the bill versus what can be done in education in the community? she asks. These are two different elements. »
Isabelle Ducharme indicates that the National Coaching Certification Program includes basic training in nutrition. She emphasizes that coaches’ mission is to offer “sports supervision” to young people, and not nutritional ones. “Basically, the responsibility of organizations and coaches at the local and regional levels is to set up a sporting activity,” she says. Are there any that go further? These are not recommendations we have. » She reminds us that parents can also “seek” nutritional advice outside “the sports system”.
Martin Fréchette, dietitian-nutritionist at the Institut national du sport du Québec, believes that a “minority” of coaches in student or civilian sports go beyond their skills in nutrition. “Whether a coach or a parent conveys Canada’s Food Guide, I don’t think it’s a big issue,” he maintains. The most risky thing is when we talk about evaluating a person’s diet or making a recommendation like “you should change your energy intake up or down”. It should be [fait par] a dietitian-nutritionist. »